Where The Heart Lies
by Yodanskinator
Summary: Having been stripped of her peaceful life in Lothering, Liona, together with Sten, is now forced to travel through the Fereldan lands once again to get to Denerim with their path full of dangers. Will the trip to Denerim be worth it? And if so, what will she do then other than unwillingly becoming involved in the Grey Warden's quarrels? A continuation of 'Be Strong, My Boy'.
1. Fallen to Rise Again

_**Warning!**_ _This is a continuation of 'Be Strong, My Boy'. If you haven't read it, I'd advise you to do so. If not, the following summary will inform you about previous events._

Leaving Lothering had us devastated. We never would have seen the Blight coming.

At first, our dog Barry succumbed to the sickness when it was already too late for any cure. My children Allison and Eric had met a qunari prisoner they insisted to feed every day.

More refugees from the south visited our village, among them two Grey Wardens and a witch of the wilds who had healed me after our encounter with darkspawn whom we had lost my four year old daughter to. Her brother, only 14 years old, and I had to watch her suffer and bleed out at the hands of their leader. I learned then, that it was not the witch who had saved me, but my own son. He had discovered magical abilities.

Eric had the qunari Sten promise to watch over us, to keep us safe, in exchange for a wish of his own. We decided to gather our essentials and leave before it was too late, facing and ending the darkspawn in our path. Then we left the village, heading for Denerim without ever looking back.

* * *

After days of travel, we had still not arrived in Denerim.  
"How long until we reach Denerim, Mother?" Eric asked as we sat by the campfire at night and Sten answered for me. "A week at most," he had said before continuing sharpening his blade.  
Huffing, Eric stood up in frustration and took off into our tent, leaving me alone with Sten.

Closing my eyes, I enjoyed the warmth of the fire on my hands, the sound of crackling wood in my ears, and the smell of food still lingering in the air.  
Moments like these needed to be relished, especially during a Blight with darkspawn creeping around every corner.  
It had not been a week since our departure from Lothering, yet it had felt like an agonizing eternity of travel and considering I had been an adventurer for a year or so it truly was surprising.  
But seeing her child suffer under such circumstances would make every mother's heart ache and weep. When I looked at Eric, I always saw the sorrow in his eyes he was trying to cover. I knew he was hiding behind a mask of courage, but underneath I could _feel_ his pains.  
Every time he sobbed, whether in my arms or in secret, every time he hit a rock in anger and frustration when he was thinking of the past, I felt it. I felt everything. And right then he was sobbing, preferring the seclusion and silence in the tent to the comfort of his mother.

He was afraid. Afraid of encountering more darkspawn, afraid of bandits and every other man and woman passing us by. But what frightened him the most was the future. So whenever I could take away his pain, envelop him in stories of my adventures and thus, make him forget about the present for a while, my heart would be at peace.

I was torn away from my thoughts as Sten suddenly spoke, "Ash-tost. What bothers you, Kadan?"  
A bitter sigh escaped my mouth as I shook my head. He understood that I was in no mood to talk about my ailments, thus he continued, "You should not dwell on your sorrows, Kadan. Itwa-ost nehraa ebost astaar."  
Biting my lips I nodded silently, trying to hold back my tears desperately.

Two days of travel passed by, darkspawn encounters became less. We were glad to finally meet someone who didn't want to kill us on sight.  
An elderly man was standing in the middle of the road, surrounded by people tending to caravans left and right. "Another traveller!" He exclaimed, rallying his companions who had been busy sorting wares and feeding their ox.  
After introducing ourselves and talking for a while we had agreed upon travelling together, since we shared the same destination.

Callum was his name and despite his almost ancient looks, he proved to be a rather athletic man.  
Well, he was able to lift crates I would never have considered possible for someone who seemed as fragile as him.

His daughter, Selene, was the reason why Eric opened up and smiled more and I was grateful for her to care and befriend him.  
Even though she was already of age, she behaved like a child whenever she was around Eric. But I didn't mind. She was kind at heart and that mattered.

When we set up camp at night, she approached me, her eyes glimmering with purpose.  
She asked me to talk with her in private and I nodded, aware of the urgency in her plea.  
Her voice was intended to be soft, but the seriousness hidden beneath her polite tone did not escape my notice.  
When I allowed her to speak, she hesitated, all the eagerness leaving her face and being replaced by nervousness.  
It was as if she had not thought past her request to talk and now she was fiddling with her hands, piecing together the words she was about to speak.

"Your son, Eric," she finally began, her gaze avoiding mine, "you haven't told me he's an apostate."  
My eyes narrowed as I was questioning her intentions. She gasped in shock when she saw my expression, as if she had foreseen my suspicion and was afraid to look at me for that reason.  
"I- I intend no harm," she stammered, "it's just…"  
She trailed off, stopping mid-sentence to raise her hand and tell me through actions what she was unable to say with words.  
A glow from her hand illuminated the dark, sparks forming on her palms.  
"You have no reason to fear me," she assured as the sparks of lightning were dancing across her fingertips, "I could feel that Eric is a mage. So am I. But he needs to be trained."

These words triggered a memory of a similar conversation I'd had with Sten. "A saarebas needs to be trained," he had said.  
 _Saarebas_. That word was still lingering in my head. As if my son was a feral dog to be either domesticated or put down.  
I knew about the Qunari culture and how they dealt with their mages and I knew for sure that my son was _not_ a 'dangerous thing' as they loved to put it.  
I remembered the look on Sten's face at my outburst, a mixture of surprise, but also disappointment. The same look that was now resting on Selene's face when I refused to let her train him.  
"He knows about his powers," was all I said, "he is not one to abuse them and he certainly does not pose any danger."  
We settled on lessons about the Fade and how to resist demonic temptations, ultimately agreeing to leaving the choice of further lessons to Eric.

* * *

 **Ash-tost.** \- "You are thinking."  
 **Itwa-ost nehraa ebost astaar.** \- "You have fallen to rise again."


	2. The Ambush

"You said you were from Lothering," Callum began to talk as we continued our journey, "but what brought you to the docks of Lake Calenhad? You were coming from that direction, after all, and a direct route would surely be a much quicker alternative."

To be honest, I didn't know it myself. Sten had wanted to go there, hoping to find something he yet had to tell me about. When I explained it to the elderly man, he sent a quick glance to the qunari, but didn't dare inquiring any further. It was almost comical how most people were downright afraid of the Qunari, going as far as to avoid asking them the simplest of questions.

Callum's reaction, however, did not go unnoticed as Sten and I shared a brief glance, smirking at each other. Only moments after I realized he had smirked at me. It wouldn't be so special if it wasn't for the fact that he had never smiled or so much as smirked until then. My faded smirk grew back into place at that, broader than before as my heart leapt from joy.

For some reason I wished to see him smile again. Not because I was falling for him, no, it was more like I was happy to see his frown gone for once, to see him overcome whatever had been holding him back from feeling or expressing joy.

The voices around me dwindled and were no more than muffled as my thoughts began consuming me, until a hand grasped my arm, preventing me from going any further. My head turned back to see Sten with Eric on his other hand. "It is too quiet," he told me as his eyes scanned our surroundings suspiciously, "an ambush is waiting for us."

"Oh, there is nothing to worry about," said Callum by my side, his nervous eyes boring into mine intently so as to not having to look at Sten, "we have been taking this road for ages, nothing ever happens here. And if it does, my men will take care of it."

Sighing, I wondered if the bandits would even attack, seeing as most had simply avoided us because of Sten. "What's one more group of bandits?" I asked Sten with a half-smile, but he didn't smile back.

We reached a sloping road, surrounded by small hills on either side. It would be no surprise if we were to be ambushed there. I was about to take another step when a glint caught my eye.

Focusing on the ground I spotted several traps and instinctively my hand shot up to get a hold of Callum who had been walking ahead of us. "Traps," was my whispered warning before he could speak.

Turning back I saw the guards already being alert, including Sten, and Eric looking frantically about. I gave him the kindest and most reassuring smile I could when his eyes locked onto mine, and mouthed for him to go back and hide. He nodded and ran back as quietly as he could.

After I had shown where the traps were, our guards marched forward, moving around them. The others stayed back, waiting for me to disarm them.

I was scarcely finished, when I heard something sweep through the air, followed by a startled scream and then… gurgling. Drawing my blades cautiously, I sought the road and hills for enemies, finding none. One of the guards had been pierced by an arrow, although there was no one with a bow to be seen. This was no ordinary ambush.

Normally, it was easy for me to spot hidden rogues, but not this time. They were trained well. So I closed my eyes, concentrating on every feeling, every breeze and every sound. _Left_.

Just in time I blocked and parried a strike from my left as a woman unveiled from the shadows. As I struck her down I noticed her unusual yet familiar armour, but there was no time to inspect her as another pounced at me from the shadows. Smirking at me he licked his lips. "It is such a shame having to kill a beautiful woman such as yourself," he purred with a strong accent as we were fighting. And then it clicked. Everything fell into place when I realized who we were dealing with.

 _Crows_.

Antivan assassins trained to kill in the most creative ways possible, able to infiltrate and take the lives of even heavily guarded kings.

"Then don't," I spat and he clicked his tongue, shaking his head in a fakely saddened manner after blocking my blow as we lingered in that position for a brief moment. The fight went on around us, but from the corner of my eye I saw one guard falling after the other. They hadn't even stood a chance from the start.

"I believe I cannot," the blonde elf said, before he flicked his blades around for a counter-attack I barely managed to avoid. Thus we both danced on the battlefield, every one of our movements complementing each other's, pausing to answer whenever we blocked, whenever our blades were pushing against each other. "What do you want?" I snapped and parried another of his strikes. I had been so used to the routine of blocking and countering that I didn't expect for him to step back, along with his blades my weight had been resting on. A fleeting sensation overcame my body at the sudden imbalance as I felt my body slowly falling forward, unable to react. When his arm grabbed mine, time seemed to have snapped back into its usual quicker pace again and I was suddenly turned around, my back now resting against his torso.

"Your help." He whispered into my ear, his hot breath sending shivers down my spine.

"Kadanshok defransdim vasheda," I hissed in anger, getting a low chuckle from him. "Maybe your boy would be more willing to help?"

As if on cue, an assassin walked into my view, pushing Eric forward and pressing her blade against his throat, a murderous grin spreading on her face when she watched me expectantly.

"H- how?," I breathed in shock, eyes wide with fear for his life as my body trembled. "Tsk tsk, your resemblance is obvious. Although I did mistake you for his sister at first."

His dagger moved to my throat to prevent me from moving as his now free hand went to stroke my hair. "How will you decide?"

My teeth gritting and nostrils flaring, my eyes scanned the still area, seeking Sten's.

The battle was over, the guards bested and the surviving one's bound. When I found him, I was relieved to see him alive with no serious wounds.

"What do you want?" My voice was but a whisper, my eyes trying to read the qunari's monotone expression. "We need a decoy," the assassin answered, "if you want your friends to live, one of you will have to stay here and lead our target to us."

His expression was unchanging still and I closed my eyes, deeply breathing in and out. "We will comply."

* * *

 **Kadanshok defransdim vasheda.** \- "I shall use my foot to assault you in the genitals."


	3. An Unwilling Helper

I barely noticed the gasp escaping Callum's lips at my words.  
"Mother!" Eric ran into my arms after being released, whimpering as I stroked and kissed his head. "It's alright," I assured him. I would never put his life willingly at risk.  
"If we are done hugging each other, we can get to our agreement now, no?"  
Turning to the elven assassin, I shot him a glare, demanding that everyone be set free and left alone ever after. "All but one," he agreed with a dark smile and I scoffed.

"Then I'll stay." Eric's eyes widened and he tugged at my sleeve, protesting against my decision but I insisted. "He is right," Sten spoke, approaching us, "your son is nothing without his mother. I have sworn to protect you and now I shall keep my word."  
"Oh no," I scolded, pointing my trembling finger at him, emphasizing every word I said, "you are _not_ staying. If you want to protect us, go with my son. He needs more protection than I do."  
But he did not budge. He simply stared at me, his emotionless expression revealing none of his thoughts. "I will stay," he stood his ground, declaring the end of our discussion.  
"You are unbelievable," I huffed, my anger almost dispersing when I saw the corners of his mouth twitch. "I am doing this for you, Kadan," were his only words, before he went on to face the Antivan.

They were sharing plans on another ambush, until Selene stormed past us, interfering as she pulled Sten back by his arm, "You would make an awful bait, Ser Qunari. What better decoy than a frightened woman seeking help?"  
The elf was clearly enjoying himself too much. "Then it is settled," he chuckled, winking at her, "I promise you will not come to harm, my lady. You will be able to leave once our task is accomplished."  
"Let us just get it over with, alright?" Was her annoyed response, her unwillingness evident, even though she kept turning down her father's pleas to come with him.

It was hard to seperate ourselves from Selene.  
I held Eric as he was sobbing on my shoulder, while Callum was held by no one.  
The elderly man was already grieving alone, the stream of his tears never stopping. It broke my heart seeing him so lonely, his daughter but a few feet away from him.

When we started leaving, I halted before the brutally mutilated corpse of Callum's ox and clenched my fists. Sten had been right, we should have listened to him. And now half of our group was dead before the fight had even started. And yet we were still alive, no thanks to the Crows' mercy, but because they just so happened to remember we could be of use, trading our lives for the aid of one person.

"We have no reason to linger here any longer, Kadan," Sten pulled me back to harsh reality as he always did, but I refused to move. "Kadan." His hand was now resting on my shoulder, squeezing it gently when my eyes met his. I felt another hand brush mine and looked down to see Eric, smiling reassuringly at me through his tears.

And thus we moved on.

Callum had decided to part ways with us after the ambush. It felt like reliving the events in Lothering, with our hearts as wounded and minds as traumatized as when we departed.  
Eric sought comfort in seclusion once again, more afraid than ever of every stranger we encountered.  
Only two days of travel were left until our arrival in Denerim, a time promising to be the most agonizing two days I had ever lived. Eric's condition was not only like when we departed from Lothering, it was _worse_.  
The quiet had been a comforting friend of his thus far, but now even that scared him, especially during our travel. He always asked me if there was going to be another ambush, wishing the Blight had never happened and Allison had never died.  
His mask was faltering and he became more prone to anger outbursts.

Sten didn't blame me for my decision to keep walking into the ambush, though, saying there had been no alternative route anyway.  
I didn't know him for long then, but I knew him good enough to know he had a heart. He didn't admit it, but he tried to comfort me whenever he noticed I was not feeling well. He had told me about the 'deal' he and Eric had made in Lothering, that we would need to visit the docks of Lake Calenhad before heading to Denerim to find something he had lost which had been gone.  
When I asked him about it, he told me he had lost his sword, Asala, and I then understood that he trusted me. Every qunari possessed an object they used for their job, linked to their souls, and losing their soul meant they were no longer worthy of living. No qunari would ever admit the loss of such an object, but Sten did.  
He had lost Asala and trusted me enough to tell me.


	4. Denerim

We had arrived in Denerim.  
I took in the scent of the market place, the scent of the people living closely together. Eric was so amazed by the sight that he even forgot his sorrows and asked me if he could join the playing children. "Go ahead," I chuckled and he ran off, laughing.

The only problem we had to deal with now was figuring out where to stay. Callum had shared some of his goods with us without ever demanding them back. That, and the possessions of the dead guards would earn us enough money to rent a room at the tavern, at least.  
Sten and I parted ways to get the selling done more quickly.  
A dwarven merchant going by the name of Gorim was so nice as to offer a small job for Eric when he had heard of our misfortune. A job I was sure was not too challenging for my boy, as it only required him to polish and deliver armour. I made a mental note to inform Eric about the offer, before visiting another merchant.

Sten and I got together at the end of the day, collecting Eric and heading to the tavern.  
Luckily, we had earned enough money to rent a room, which we had to share. Sten insisted on sleeping on the couch, letting us take the bed. I thought Eric would refuse to share a bed with me, considering he had done so on our travel, but surprisingly he did not say a single word about it.  
His mood was fine, he was not brooding anymore and to my surprise, he was a lot chattier than he had been before, telling me about the children he had met and the jokes they had made.

The next day, late in the morning, I kissed Eric goodbye as he headed out to take Gorim up on his offer. Today would be his first day of work and I was as much excited as him. Holding back my tears had been hard when I watched him leave, thinking he was growing up so fast.  
A commotion in the tavern had Sten leaving as well, because the owner had asked him to deal with some troublemakers. Thus it was only I by myself and I decided to use that time to get some fresh air.

It was a nice feeling not having to wear an armour anymore, but even though the market place was well-guarded and safe, I felt it was still best to be prepared for anything and tucked daggers under my simple dress.

"Excuse me, my lady," a knight approached me, bowing to me politely before he continued, holding up a paper, "I am searching for a Grey Warden who looks like this. He deserted the battle at Ostagar, leaving my friend and king Cailan Theirin to die."  
What I saw on the parchment was a poorly sketched version of the Dalish Warden and my brow shot up in response. "And you have seen him desert the battle, Ser Knight?" I asked him with a criticizing tone to which he shook his head, saying, "If only I could I would have strangled him then and there. Loghain has spread the word of the Grey Wardens' betrayal."  
I refrained from rolling my eyes. Too many people simply trusted a politician's word without ever looking for the truth themselves. "Then your assumption is invalid, Ser Knight," I stated bluntly, "the Grey Wardens would be the last ones to run from such a battle. Whatever Loghain might say, a politician should never be taken by their word."

He watched me incredulously with his mouth agape, before collecting himself again. "Maker be with you if anyone else ever finds out that you're a Grey Warden supporter, my lady," he breathed out, barely containing his anger, but I scoffed. "Maker be with _you_ if you find Loghain to be a liar, Ser Knight."  
"You do not know him," he opposed and I agreed, "Of course I do not, although I prefer to stay out of political quarrels if I have not seen the truth for my own eyes and I'd advise you to do the same. Good day, Ser Knight."  
Leaving him no time to answer, I took off. I did not care what he thought about me and hoped for him to heed my words, at the very least.

During our time travelling, Edward and I had encountered many corrupt politicians and experienced their 'game' first-hand. We had seen half of Thedas and it was fair to say that Orlais and Antiva were the most politically corrupt countries we had ever visited. But I guess that every country's politics were corrupt in their own way and went hand in hand with their culture, seeing as how Tevinter's laws were common for their people.  
But I didn't want to spend any further thoughts on foreign policies.

Observing the market place, I noticed it was much less crowded than the previous day. Traders had opened up their shops, waiting desperately for customers, even hollering at people passing them by.  
Yesterday that had not been the case. Buyers had been flocking to them from everywhere, accustoming the merchants to the major inflow that was almost non-existent today.

"Hello, Mother!" Eric exclaimed happily from the distance as he was passing with a sword in his hands, heading towards Wade's shop. Chuckling I waved at him, before heading into the direction he had come from.

"Ah, Miss Liona!" Gorim welcomed me merrily, "Your boy is such a great help! How are you faring today?"  
Greeting him back I shrugged, saying, "Pretty well, I suppose. I have yet to find a job for us to get by as we are staying at the tavern for now."

Sympathy flashed across his face, soon replaced by cheerfulness. "Oh, do not worry, Miss!" He reassured me. "I am positive you will manage. If not, feel free to ask me for help, I'd be glad to give you the money you need."  
I smirked, but refused. He did not possibly mean to _lend_ me the money, did he? Because as generous as a merchant like him was, when it came to money there would always be a catch.

After a while I moved on, stopping by an alley next to the Chantry when I saw someone whimpering.  
"What am I gonna do now?" I heard a man talking to himself. "I can't leave him here like this."  
When I approached him I saw a dead body next to him. He jumped at the sight of me, his hand grasping the handle of his sword. "I- I, he attacked me first, it was self defense, I swear!" He stammered. "Please do not tell the guards, my lady."

"You do realize that anyone passing by can hear your stammering?" I criticised, scrutinizing him with my arms crossed. "You would have been arrested by now had I been a patrolling guard."  
Stuttering an apology he begged for my help, but I simply shook my head. "You are on your own," was all I said, "you should be old enough to get out of the mess you put yourself in. You did this, now you will need to carry the can for your actions."  
It was when I saw the tears in his eyes threatening to fall that I began doubting my decision not to help him. Massaging my temple I held up a hand for him to hush.

And there I was, helping an amateur mercenary dispose of a corpse. I had seen people throw their trash into the well at the Chantry and guided him there. I just hoped that becoming involved in his shady business would not come back to bite me later.  
"Th- thank you so much," he said nervously when the deed was done, moving in to hug me in relief only to be rejected. "Please refrain from touching me."  
"O- of course," he stuttered.

When we parted ways all I could think of was, 'Maker's breath, who would hire such an idiot?' 


	5. An Unfortunate Incident

Weeks had passed and we easily had got into a routine. Eric would leave every morning for work and I would follow around early noon to sell soaps with an Orlesian woman named Liselle.  
Sten would stand around in a corner or follow Eric in a distance to keep an eye on us. I had tried several times to talk him into doing something else, but he insisted on watching us as if we would be attacked at any time.  
Every day, the knight would stand at the exact same spot as when I first had met him. That had caught my attention, thus I had talked to him a few times and he had introduced himself as Ser Landry, apologizing for the commotion he had caused earlier.  
We would talk about politics and Grey Wardens, and not once did I manage to persuade him that they might not be at fault for King Cailan's death. But he was so blinded by his anger and wish for revenge that he did not accept anything else.

That had me thinking about how hard it must be for the Wardens. Everyone was blindly following Teyrn Loghain, without doubting any of his words.  
I did not know anyone of the order personally, nor had I ever seen one, but the tales I had heard of them around all of Thedas were the same. And all of them told about their strong sense of duty, how they stopped one Blight after the other, sacrificing themselves for the many. To me, Loghain's accusation simply did not make sense at all. They had been banished from Ferelden once, but had done their best to redeem their reputation ever since, staying out of political issues as strictly as possible.  
But the Teyrn forced them to become politically active again, leading them astray from their initial cause: ending the Blight.  
So I had made it my duty to support them, as best as a hard-working mother could, at least. Also, I was hoping to meet Leliana again whom I had heard had joined the Warden.

Behind my customer I saw Eric, waving at me as he ran towards his friends to play.  
"Your kid?" The man asked, noticing my distracted smile, and I nodded. When I caught myself I apologized, shaking my head, before going back to offering him different types of soap. But he seemed to have no interest in our wares anymore as he'd rather talk about my son. "The qunari," he began hesitantly, "he your bodyguard or something? If not, I'd keep a better eye on that kid of yours, lest he gets kidnapped."  
I had to keep myself from laughing out loud, aware of how obvious Sten's behaviour was. "He's just overprotective," I replied truthfully and he nodded, buying two bars of soap.

A sudden sound of an explosion had us wince und twirl about to see the children fleeing. "Maker," I gasped and excused myself before scurrying towards where they came from.  
"M-mother," I saw Eric whimpering, his finger tips dark and covered by soot and smoke, "I-I didn't want to…"  
People were gathering around us to inspect the scene and the black hole in front of Eric.  
"What happened?" Someone asked me as I wrapped my arms around my son soothingly. "My son is very experimental," I sighed, shaking my head and trying to make the lie as believable as I could before turning to him and asking, "Haven't I told you _not_ to build bombs, Eric? Look at what you've done!"  
The hint of surprise did not stop his tears and he apologized, still upset over the use of his magic. Still, he understood what I meant and kept silent.  
"Let's go home and see how bad it is," I whispered and led him to the tavern with my arm protectively around his shoulder as I refrained from touching his hands. It was part of the act. I knew he wasn't injured, but had a bomb exploded near his hands, they would be wounded if not worse.

"What happened?" Sten asked, closely following us into our room. "He used his magic," I answered once we were safely inside and away from prying ears.  
"I- I'm so s- sorry, Mother," he apologized through his sobs, "t-they were b-bullying M-Marel because s-she's an elf and I- I was an-gry."  
"Shh," I cooed and rocked him back and forth in my arms, "you didn't hurt anyone, did you?"  
"N-no," he sobbed and I felt him shaking his head, his face still buried in my neck.  
"It would be best for him to not leave the tavern anymore," Sten offered and I was surprised his comments about Eric being a saarebas did not follow. But I shook my head, arguing that it would raise suspicion if he stayed inside for too long.  
Deciding it was best for him to stay home for only a few days to make the others believe he was truly injured, I led him to the bathtub to help him wash the dirt off of his body. 


	6. A Mother's Love

"Miss Liona!" Gorim exclaimed upon seeing me on the market. "Is your boy alright? You never told me he was a tinkerer!"  
I forced a smile, though I only managed half of it. "And for a good reason, my dear Gorim," I sighed, shaking my head, "I forbade him the building of bombs and using them, no less. And now look at what he has done."  
"By all means, Miss, you should let him! I would pay a high price for his bombs!"  
"My decision stands, Gorim."

It saddened me to leave him so disappointed, but it was for the best. I could not afford failing to save another child of mine and should the templars come to take him to the Circle, they would have to go through me first.  
Luckily, there was nothing to be afraid of since the people believed Eric had used a bomb. However, that did not spare me from having to face other authorities.  
A guard approached my stand and Liselle and I exchanged glances.  
"My lady," he greeted me with a polite nod and introduced himself as Sergeant Kylon, "I have come to speak to you."  
"It is about my boy, is it not?" I huffed. "Please spare me the rubbish and do not bother me, I know fairly well what he has done."  
"Apologies, my lady, but he has committed a crime."  
"And you are suggesting he be arrested? He is but a boy!"  
"No, but some kind of punishment will be inevitable. You will need to pay a fine of two sovereigns for clearance."  
"Two sovereigns?!" I asked incredulously and the guards captain nodded, lowering his head in shame. "That is double the price I earn in two weeks!"  
"I'm sorry, my lady, but such is the law. I expect you to pay at least 50 silvers by the end of the week."  
With that he hurried off after bidding me farewell, as if he was fleeing from me.

"Are you alright, Liona?" Liselle asked carefully, watching me with caution. When I did not answer, she placed a hand on my shoulder, telling me to take the day off and sort my mind, and offered to split the earnings as usual.  
Just how was I supposed to finance our room and food with having to pay off a part of the fine every week?

Sten noticed my grim expression upon arriving at the tavern. "You are not working," he spoke when we were alone, "what happened, Kadan?"  
"Maraas," I mumbled, "do not worry for me."  
"I insist. Tell me."  
His stoic expression did not change when I told him about what had happened, even when my eyes were reddening and I was close to tears.  
Nonetheless, I took comfort in his silence, since I knew he cared, even though he did not know how to express such emotions properly.

After a moment of silence, he began to speak again and I felt the warmth of his calloused hand resting upon my shoulder. "I have never understood those who do not abide by the Qun, and still, I do not fully. Women are not supposed to fight, for their place is elsewhere. Yet here you are, a remarkable woman of great prowess in battle, and even so, you handled your children better than any Tamassran could have. I understand that you do anything to ensure your and your children's survival, something I have never seen a Tamassran provide for the young ones."

A sad smile formed upon my face, as the first tears fell at his words. "Only a mother can be capable of such, Sten. No Tamassran can ever replace the love and care a mother bears for her children, they would not care for the loss of one imekari, for, to them, they are expendable," I whispered, "I failed to protect Allison. If anything were to happen to Eric, I-" My voice cracked as a sob fought its way up my throat, the stream of my tears growing thicker in grief, as I recalled the images of Lothering, but instead of Allison, I saw Eric dying. "I would give my life to protect his."  
"It would do him no good if you were to falter now," he soothed me, his hand now resting on my shoulder, squeezing it softly, "you will never be able to guide him in death."

I let his soothing words flow through me, drinking in every single one of them. He was right. Of course he was. Yet he did not understand I valued the life of my son over mine. I was still considerably young, since I had been but a child when I gave birth to him, but I had experienced enough in my life while Eric still had his life before him.

Sten's words had set my thoughts ablaze, thinking and planning for the future. I was not ready to die. At least not yet. I had to teach my son everything I knew, train him and prepare him for the hardships to come. Until then, I would not die, even with my heart torn out. I would not rest until my son was ready to be able to face the world, until I knew he was strong enough to carry out his mother's will. To live.


	7. Two Months Later

Two months had passed, and I was finally able to pay off our 'debt' to the guard, and loathingly so. Without Sten's help and our working hard together, that would have never been possible so early.  
Even though I had taken on extra jobs, I managed to start with Eric's training. I taught him the basics of what I knew, at first. How to wield daggers and a bow, and especially how to use his own body as a weapon. He learned how to use his surroundings to his advantage, able to turn even a harmless parchment to his advantage without the use of magic.

He had been reluctant at first, but he knew better than to alert the templars.  
After everything that had happened, he had grown more mature and more aware of the reality than any other child his age.  
And despite of it, he managed to stand unyieldingly and developed drastically over such a short period of time. I was proud of my boy, oh so proud.

When we realized that neither a bow, nor daggers worked entirely well with him, Sten insisted on giving him 'proper' training. It was one of the rare times we completely disagreed, as he was strongly convinced that quick and nimble feet were useless in battle and that Eric needed to face his opponents up-front instead of 'running away'. That man's stubbornness truly knew no bounds.  
Thus, I relented, on the condition that I teach him to pick locks, climb and stick to shadows. Sometimes it was better to avoid a fight and he needed to know how.

Eric never complained. He rarely ever smiled after Lothering, but when he did, it was when Sten and I argued over his training. Even though Sten's methods were harsh, my son went along with it. Of course it angered me, whenever he would come home with more bruises each evening, and when Eric was not amused by my and Sten's quarrels, he would tell me to stop coddling him.  
It was when he told me that he needed the training to cope, I gave in.

One day, when I was reading a poster, I was approached by an elf in the market, clad in steel armour with daggers strapped to her back. She asked to meet with me in The Pearl and that she was supporting the Grey Wardens.  
When I asked why she didn't join the two Wardens on their travels, as that would be the best way to support them, all I got were unreasonable answers, enabling me to see through her lies.  
"You are foolish to think they would fall for your trap," I stated bluntly, interrupting her blabbering, gaining myself a cold glare and an empty threat in return. "Instead of threatening civilians, you might as well do your job, don't you think?" I scolded her, knowing fairly well she might have been hired by the Teyrn to eliminate the Wardens. "We'll see each other again, shem," she growled, but backed off. I disregarded her at that time - nevertheless I couldn't help but mull over her words.

I took it upon myself to take off some of the posters when no one was looking, but I noticed someone was stubborn enough to hang them back up every day, which was my clue to back down as I did not want to become a target and endanger Eric.

The elven woman would show up much more often in the market, obviously watching me, though she was too proud and too stupid to take off her armour, thus, making herself much more conspicuous in the crowd than she should. I pretended to not notice her, going on about my business as usual, but I did warn Sten and Eric, once we were in the safe confinements of our rented room.

So whenever Eric was at work, delivering Gorim's goods to his customers, Sten would be more vigilant, watching not only my boy, but also the woman.  
It seemed unnecessary, however, as she only had eyes for me. Though to what purpose? If she wanted to strike, she could have done so on numerous occasions. But there was one thing I had to agree with her on - we did see each other. Far too often for my liking.

As I saw Eric wave at me when he went to visit Marel, I nodded at him with a smile, turning to my newly approaching customer.  
I presumed he was a soldier, judging by the heavy armour and his great sword on his back, which was not an unusual sight, since many of our customers were soldiers badly in need of soap.

"Another soldier coming to spend their hard earned money on exotic soap?" I asked in amusement and he grinned. "You bet," he answered jokingly, "my colleagues told me of your soap, my lady. Anything you could recommend?"  
"Well," I began, picking one bar of lavender soap from our sortiment, "this is what I always recommend the soldiers."  
Handing it out for him to sniff, I explained that lavender has healing and calming effects aside from the good smell.  
"It smells beautiful," he sighs, "and if I might add, my lady, so are you."

I raise an eyebrow, amused by his sloppy attempt to flirt with me. "My, thank you," I chuckled, before focusing on business again, "you might want to take a look at these, as well, and if you seek to simply reduce the odour, I would recommend lemongrass soap."  
He nodded, pretending to browse through our wares, though the fleeting glances sent my way every now and then did not go unnoticed.

I found it endearing and somehow, I could not shake the feeling that I enjoyed his attention. Ever since Edward had left, I was never involved with any other men, and instead devoted to my children. And now, to experience such attention and interest from a man again after such a long time reminded me how wonderful of a thrill it was.

"That would make fifty silver," I announced and he nodded, grinning, fishing for his pouch. After a while of searching unsuccessfully, his face fell. "Blast it," he huffed, "seems like I forgot my money. May I drop by tomorrow again?"  
"Unless tomorrow is a holiday I have never known of, you may," I answer, amused by his sheepish behaviour.  
"Tomorrow it is then," he grinned and was about to set off, when he seemed to remember something, and turned back to me. "Before I leave, my lady," he began and I raised my brows questioningly, "may I ask for your name?"

Another smile tugged at the corner of my lips and I stifled a laugh, giving him my name. "Thank you, my lady, I shall remember it," he smirked and bowed his head to me, his short brown braid falling to the side of his face, "my name is Paedan, I am glad to have made your acquaintance." 


	8. Target

I was the first one to arrive at the tavern after work. Sten and Eric joined me much later in the evening, seeing as they had been training.  
Noticing that my son was not his usual elevated self, I inquired the reason for it, to which he sighed. "I am worried, Mother," he mumbled, letting himself fall onto the bed and staring at the ceiling. "Marel has not been around today and the alienage has been closed off."  
"Closed off?" I couldn't contain my own surprise and worry for the elves in the alienage. "Why would it be closed off?"

Short silence ensued and he sighed. "I don't know. The guard told me there was some sickness and the elves would need to be quarantined."  
Now that had my attention. "But Marel was fine just yesterday, was she not?" Why would everyone be quarantined if not all of the residents were sick? What kind of plague was it, anyway, if it supposedly hit everyone over-night?

"That is what I have been wondering, too," he mused, "but no one can enter or leave, on Teyrn's orders."  
"Teyrn's orders," I snorted in disgust. Of course it was always on the Teyrn's orders when something went wrong or shady. "Dear son, you just got yourself an answer."  
The only question that remained was, just what was that man planning this time? Not a benevolent act, that was for sure.

Letting my son mull over my words, I left the room and approached Sten who had been beckoning me.  
With the door closed, he began to talk. "I followed the elf when she left before Eric's work was done."  
"And?" I inquired, wondering what news he was about to bring.  
"She is a bounty hunter. There were two more, both Vashoth, and they were headed for the Pearl."  
"I'm not being targeted for criticizing her, am I?" I asked incredulously, although deep down, in the back of my mind, I had always been aware of it.  
"I do not like staying here any longer," he averted the topic, disregarding my question to which the answer was obvious, "I would much rather battle darkspawn outside of the city gates than leave ourselves an exposed target to some petty mercenaries."

I contained a sigh, shaking my head. Even if we were to leave, what good would it bring? I was not about to flee again simply because of some mercenaries lacking even the ability of discretion. How did they even hunt the Warden's supporters if they failed at a task as simple as blending in and approaching their target unnoticed? My thought was, what they probably had in prowess, they lacked in brains, and I could not allow myself to ruin this opportunity of starting anew for such a ridiculous reason.

I stood my ground against Sten, forcing him to relent. "I know you are worried, Sten," I spoke softly, my hand resting on his arm, caressing it, "if they should pose a serious threat, they'll be gone before you even notice it."  
His brows furrowed. "You underestimate your enemies," he warned me, "you did not listen to me before the ambush, but you should do so now."

We went on in circles after that, and to avoid another fight I closed the topic and left for the bedroom, but not before giving him a gentle hug. "Thank you for caring, Sten," I whispered against his steadily moving chest, "but we will manage this somehow."

The next day I was approached by Paedan, as he had promised. Liselle, who had not been around when we first met, threw us weird glances.  
"Miss Liona, it is wonderful to see you again," he greeted me in joy. "Indeed," I snickered, "so what will it be, lavender, lemongrass, rose?"

"A bit of everything? I loathe being this stinky mess I am, especially around you," he joked, sniffing himself in a ridiculous manner, "what would the ladies even think?"  
Liselle and I could not help laughing at his response, all the while packing his bars and exchanging them for coin.

"And if it is not too much to ask," he began slowly, a smirk creeping onto his face as he glanced towards Liselle, "may I steal her for a moment?"

With her consent I left with him, following him out of the market and near the Chantry.  
"I apologize for being so straight-forward with you," he seemed to fumble for words, still putting his sentences together as he reached for his pouch, "but I have heard of your hardships. Please take this coin, I would hate for you and your son to suffer so badly."

I was flabbergasted. Why would anyone bother helping _me_? Not that I would accept it anyway. How did he even know so much about me? Something did not seem right.

"As much as I appreciate your concern, Paedan," I replied hesitantly, "I cannot accept your offer. Charity is not something I take well, when I can earn the money by myself."  
He insisted multiple times and I refused as equally often.

"You are one stubborn woman," he sighed to himself in exasperation, causing a smile to spread on my lips. Oh, how often I had heard that line. "Then I ask you to take care of yourself, at least. Alright?"  
"I will. Thank you, Paedan."

We parted ways after that, with him probably going back to doing his duties and me helping Liselle out with the flow of customers.

"I didn't know you had an admirer, Liona," she commented with her endearing accent, once the customers were gone and we had air to breathe.  
"I didn't know either, until yesterday, when he came to buy soap," I chuckled and she gasped in surprise. "How come he takes a liking to you so early?"  
I shrugged, joking, "You know how soldiers are. Some woman snaps their attention and they soon turn into lecherous hounds."

She couldn't contain her laughter then and soon, I joined. It was a good feeling, being able to laugh so freely again. I was surrounded by good people, and I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world. 


	9. Parting Ways

Eric was making progress. He had grown some muscles due to Sten's efficient training, which made him - naturally - more confident, although I could still see the pain in his eyes fairly well.

Paedan and I got to know each other better and despite his intrusive questions about myself, I grew fond of him. Of course I could not say I trusted him enough to tell him everything of my past - for I would rather leave it behind than relive those memories again - or of my son's magical abilities, but he made me happy. As happy as a mother who had recently lost her child could be, at least.

We had spent so much time together that I allowed him to experience one of my breakdowns, whenever I thought of Allison. Before, I had always made sure to dwell on my sorrows alone, for I did not want to burden Eric or Sten with the past.

Our relationship remained innocent, as I did not yet feel ready to become intimate with him. To my surprise, he understood, even though I did not tell him why.

There was something about him that made my gut scream at me to be wary of him. I could not comprehend as to why, but when I saw the disdain crossing the elven woman's features whenever I was with the soldier, I understood. Yes, she was still observing me, shadowing my every move like a cat ready to pounce. And yet, she did not, not even after a month.

I wondered what she was planning, wondered what it had to do with Paedan. Sten was not fond of my involvement with the soldier, although he never told me the reason.  
Eric didn't mind, telling me it was high time that I finally met another man. He knew his father would never come back.

Still, not even my son's boon would shake off that suspicious feeling. One day, I decided to tail him whenever we parted, hidden by the shadows. I was relieved when I did not find anything suspicious, he never went to the Pearl where the trap was supposed to be, nor did he come in contact with the elven woman.

Since then, I opened up to him more, as did he. That was when I first let him get to know Eric. Both of them got along well. Sten, on the other hand, despised him still.

"It seems you have found someone else to protect you," he said, "there is no need for me to stay."  
My heart ached at the sight of him, at his anger and disappointment directed towards me. "But… you have nowhere else to go," I contradicted, "there is no need for you to go, either."

"Kadan," he spoke, and when I saw his docile and gentle expression, I knew he was not cross with me, but rather, with himself. I realized that he had never been angry or upset, no, he was _hurting_. He thought of himself as a failure, unable to protect those he cared about yet again… "You saved my life, and I cannot thank you enough. In return, I have pledged myself to protecting you and your imekari, for you had no one else. Now, that role is no longer mine."

"Sten…" My voice cracked, my tears gathering at the corners of my eyes, threatening to fall. "You have given me back my purpose, Kadan. Even without Asala, I shall continue my mission and serve the Qun for as long as I breathe. I may join the Wardens in the pursuit of the answer to the Arishok's question."  
My gaze fell to the ground, staring at it purposelessly in confliction. Contradicting emotions were swirling inside of me, clashing and twisting against each other. Joy, because I was glad to have given him the will to live again, against sorrow, for I was not yet ready to part ways with him. Fear and anger began to entwine, for I was afraid of losing yet someone else dear to me, and I was furious with myself for failing so miserably at seeing through his mask. Had I known…

"I will not be able to keep you from leaving, will I?" I spoke once I found my voice again and he smiled. For the first time, I saw him smile so openly, unguarded. I saw him smile at all.  
"Do not worry, Kadan," he assured me, "once I have found the answer, I will see you again."

"I sure hope so… Kadan." I gave him one last hug, pouring all my heart and love into it, before I retreated, making way for Eric to say his goodbyes. He was as heartbroken as I was, refusing to let go.  
We watched him leave after that, Eric clinging to me as he bit back his tears desperately.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Ceonnia: Feminine women kicking ass? Hell yeah. ;) I'm glad someone actually posted a decent review, let's me know what the readers like and what I could improve upon. Happy to see you like Liona!


	10. Secrets

Days had passed and Eric already began withdrawing again. He talked less, ate less, smiled less.

I sighed and closed my eyes that had been staring out of the window, drinking in the quiet as I was swallowed by my desperate thoughts. I felt a sudden tug on my sleeve and turned towards Paedan who was resting on his bed with his chest exposed.  
"We don't have to do this, love," he spoke gently and I shook my head in response, telling him that my thoughts lay elsewhere.  
"You're thinking about Eric, aren't you?" He asked again, earning a sad smile, and let out a drawn-out sigh before apologizing. "I shouldn't have brought this onto you. We can end this if you want to."

"You've done nothing wrong, Paedan," I replied, "he obviously likes you. It's just… he has lost one person after another and now that Sten is gone, there is nobody who can help him cope like he did."  
Paedan raised a brow, crawling to the end of the bed to sit behind me, curling his arms around my waist. "But he still has his mother," he says, planting a kiss on my shoulder. I smile in response, closing my eyes as I enjoyed his touch. "How did Sten help him cope, anyway?"

I thought fondly of his training, my smile growing wider as I remembered how Eric would laugh at Sten and I's arguments.

"Remember when I told you that Eric is a mage?" I began and he nodded. "With everything that's happened to us we thought he should learn to defend himself - without magic, so as to not raise any suspicion. Sten decided to train him to be a warrior."

"I see." Paedan seemed to be lost in thought for a while, before his gaze reached up to meet mine with a warm smile. "How about I train him from now on? That way we could get to know each other better."

"That would be wonderful," I replied gratefully, meeting his smile with my own as I leaned against him. "Thank you, Paedan."  
"Oh, you're very welcome," he chuckled.

* * *

I awoke to Paedan still sleeping soundly.  
My lips curled into a smile as I recalled our first night together and I sighed in content as I watched his chest rise and fall peacefully.  
On that night, Paedan reminded me of the love of a man and how I had missed having someone at my side to take care of _me_ for once.  
But I was glad to have reserved such a moment for someone like him, someone I could trust… My thoughts began drifting off to Edward. Why had he left? Did he not love me anymore? Did he grow bored of me? Was he overwhelmed by our family?  
No, I thought firmly to myself, I needed to forget him. I could not allow myself to think of my former husband when I had finally found someone else.

Trying to shake off those thoughts, I let my gaze wander around Paedan's room. Maker, what a mess it was. Clothes strewn about everywhere, pieces of his armour lying uselessly on the ground and parchment littered all over his desk. I had been thinking about preparing breakfast for him, but I could not just leave the mess with a good conscience. Thus, I got up from bed, dressed and began tidying up his room.

As I was picking up his clothes from the ground, I noticed a piece of parchment falling out. With a sigh, I placed it onto the desk mindlessly and went on with stacking all the crumpled notes and letters until something caught my eye.  
One letter in particular stood out among all the crumpled parchment, rolled up and tied with a red ribbon and neatly placed on the middle of the desk - just like a prize.

I kept trying to ignore it, since it didn't concern me, yet eventually, my curiosity got the better of me.  
I shot a careful glance in Paedan's direction and when I was assured he was asleep, I took it, examining it for a good while. My fingers caressed the ribbon, feeling its silky touch as I drifted into thoughts again. I hesitated, asking myself over and over again if I should untie it, yet I kept telling myself it didn't concern me.  
I rolled my eyes at that. He wouldn't mind.

It bore Arl Howe's stamp at the end - which was not so unusual since he was one of his soldiers. Perhaps he had got a promotion?  
My eyes scanned over the neat and beautiful handwriting and I could not stop admiring it. It was one of the things I actually liked about nobles, making every note and letter look like a piece of art.

Then I began reading.

I drank in every sentence, my eyes widening with each word, my mouth agape as I kept telling myself that it could not be real.

 _Lieutenant,_

 _Your creative methods in capturing so many Grey Warden supporters have come to my attention and I believe congratulations are in order._  
 _Of course, such must be expected from my Elite._  
 _In reflection of your stellar performance, I hereby increase the bounty per head for you and your colleagues. Consider it a boon._

 _Arl Rendon Howe_

Covering my mouth with my hand, I read through the letter again and again, and each time more and more tears were threatening to fall.  
'Please, oh dear Maker, do not let this be real…'

Shock led to denial, denial led to realization and realization to anger.

I had been played. This whole time Paedan had lied to me, seduced me even. What I hadn't known was that he was _hunting_ me. Probably trying to find out all my weaknesses only to torture me and make me suffer in the end, because he knew I was a supporter of the Grey Wardens.

He was possibly even going to hurt Eric.

I closed my eyes, trying to calm myself. My body was trembling, the letter shaking in my hands.

'He must not know.'

Rolling up the parchment again, I tied it with the ribbon, placing it back onto the desk as if I had never touched it.

Moving over to his armour, I started picking them up and placing them onto an armour stand.

Paedan inhaled deeply, roused awake by the clattering of armour. "You're awake," I stated, faking a smile and he smirked. "It was a long night, after all," he replied with a wink before throwing off his sheets and approaching me.  
I chuckled in response and let him kiss me. "Good morning, love."


	11. Old Friends

Only a few days had passed and Paedan was still acting normal, which meant that he didn't know what I had discovered.  
Eric had grown fond of him, he was so happy that I just could not tell him who he really was. Thus I stood there at my stand, watching him deliver one piece of armoury after another.  
So lost in thought I was that I did not realize another customer approaching my stand.

"Liona?" I blinked, recognizing her voice and accent, my sight clearing as I saw Leliana before me.  
"It's good to see-" Just as I was about to finish, I was suddenly dragged into a hug across the table.

"I'm so glad you made it out alive," she choked, her voice nothing but a trembling whisper. Resting my arms around her back, I could not help but smile.  
She retreated, hastily wiping off her tears and watched me for a while, a melancholic smile resting on her lips.

"How have you been?" She asked, still sniffing. "Fine," I lied, "Eric and I adapted pretty well into our new lives."  
She frowned, as if to ask something - about Allison, I imagined - and I spoke again without leaving her the chance to voice out her question. "What about you? Any luck with the Wardens?"

Leliana nodded. "Yes. A lot happened ever since I left Lothering with them." She told me about Redcliffe and of the demon that had taken hold of the dead and unleashed them upon the town one night after another. With the help of a blood mage, the arl's wife had sacrificed herself to save her son from the demon's grasp, since the Circle was too far away to reach in such a short time.

And then there was the ambush on their way to Denerim. Antivan assassins had sought to eliminate the two Wardens - on Loghain's order. Apparently, the Warden had spared their leader and accepted him into their group. I gulped, thinking about Selene.  
"A-and… the girl?" I asked reluctantly. For a moment, Leliana seemed confused until she remembered. "There was a girl, yes. A mage. But she didn't survive," she replied carefully, watching my reaction with every word she said.  
My heart clenched. "I see," I mumbled, lowering my gaze.  
"I'm sorry," she apologized and I shook my head.

"You couldn't have known."

Soon, we had to end our conversation, since another customer arrived and so did Liselle, with a crate of new bars of soap.  
"We'll talk later." Leliana waved me goodbye before she disappeared into the crowd.  
Upon her departure, a feeling overcame me that something was not right. The elven woman who had always been watching me before, was nowhere to be found.

* * *

"I saw Sten today!" Eric exclaimed happily when he entered our room and I smiled, asking where he had seen him.  
"He was in Wade's store with the same men we saw in Lothering! The witch was there, too!"  
I chuckled at his cheery attitude. "What did they say?" I asked.

"Not much. We sparred," he answered with a toothy grin. "And I'm going to train with them later today."  
"What about Paedan? Did you tell him?"  
"Not yet. Can you tell him for me? I'm sure he'll understand."  
No, he wouldn't. By then he probably knew Sten was with the Wardens.  
"I'll tell him when I see him today," I said, faking a smile. I knew that with the elven woman gone, Paedan probably was, as well.


	12. The Grey Wardens

A crowd. Surrounding me. Watching me fall to my knees by the tavern's doorstep.  
My head. It ached. Wet. Was that blood? Trickling down my forehead. Why was I bleeding? Why did they surround me?  
Men clad in armour, taking away a boy. My boy? Eric.

"Liona!" I could barely hear, much less register who was calling out to me.  
I felt hands on my shoulders, feminine hands. A red-headed woman - Leliana? - knelt before me, asking me if I was alright.

"She's in shock," I heard another distant voice.

Leliana ignored their comment. "We need to get him back!"

"It's no use. We'll need the templars against the darkspawn."

* * *

 _It was a usual day. Eric had left for work and I was about to head out. After packing self-made bars of soap into a crate, I carried them out of my room._  
 _"Miss Liona!" The bartender, Harrith, called after me._

 _I turned around. "Yes?"_

 _His gaze drifted around the room and then he beckoned me over with a motion of his hand. His face bore a suspicious expression._  
 _My brow arched, I complied, walking over after placing the crate onto the ground._

 _A bag of coins was resting on the counter and he slid them into my direction. "For the boy you helped out. Maker knows you'll need it," he whispered and winked at me. I frowned in response and nodded after I had remembered the young man whom I disposed a corpse for, thanking him with a smile._

 _I stepped out only to walk into someone else. He was part of a crowd surrounding something - or someone - I couldn't see, yet the whispers were enough for me to panic._

 _"Poor boy."_  
 _"He was probably one of the Maleficars' children. Good riddance I'd say."_  
 _"Didn't he cause the explosion at the market?"_

 _My crate fell to the ground, my eyes swelled with tears. "My son," I whispered, repeating those two words until I was shouting._

 _"That's my son, let me through!" I yelled as I hastily pushed men and women aside until I saw him. Two templars were holding each of his arms, escorting him through the crowd, while another approached me._

 _"Stay back, Ma'am," he ordered politely, "the boy is required to be taken to the Circle."_

 _"No," I gasped, "no, no,_ _no_ _! I will not have you take my child away!"_

 _"Please, Miss. It is for your own safety."_

 _My hands shook, my lips trembling as I whimpered, begging them to stop, to leave him be. I followed them through the crowd, trying to stop them by at least standing in their path._  
 _Steel gloves reached out to me, followed by the sound of clattering armour, and grasped my arms._

 _"Do not touch me!" I shrieked, knocking off the templar's hands._

 _"Do not force our hand, Ma'am."_

 _I did not listen. Instead, I lashed out on the templar without thinking, burying a hidden knife in his arm. I was foolish, should have aimed for his throat, at least. I cried and screeched and yelled, demanding them to release my son who was watching me with tears in his eyes._

 _One of the templars holding Eric let go of his arm and held me instead, his grip becoming ever so tighter the more I struggled._  
 _But I did not care. I kicked and screamed until I was smacked in the head and sent flying to the ground. My sight blurred, yet I still tried to get up and follow them, each time falling to my knees._

* * *

"Liona, can you hear me?"  
" 'Tis most foolish to talk to a sleeping person. Of course she cannot hear you."  
"You should let her rest, Leliana. She'll be fine."

So many unknown voices were speaking, yet they felt still familiar. A groan escaped me as I came to, registering the pulsing ache in my head.

"Careful. You have been hit in the head pretty badly."

I was about to sit up when I felt hands steadying my head and torso as a soft male voice spoke to me. Blinking several times, I let my gaze wander around the room after the blur faded. My eyes shifted from one person to another and I realized I was in the company of the Wardens and their companions, all watching me with anticipation. Looking up, I saw the Dalish carefully withdrawing his hands as he sent me a warm smile.

"How are you feeling?" He asked and I blinked in response.

"Where am I?"

"In your room. We brought you here after your fight with the templars."

I gaped at him in shock. "Templars?" I whispered and he nodded. I lowered my gaze, shifting it around the floor as I sunk into my thoughts.

"Such a shame. He had so much potential," the witch commented and was scolded by Leliana immediately after.

"Eric," I muttered, ignoring her comment as I shot up, stumbling towards the door, "I have to get him back."

"They're already gone," the Warden stated, catching me as I lost my balance, "you can't leave in this state."

I was still too shocked and disoriented to react, so I let him lead me back to my bed and have me seated.

"You may know us already, but I think proper introductions are in order," he then said with a bright charming smile, receiving a weak smirk from me in return.

"I'm Theron, the Grey Warden."

"And I'm Alistair, the… other Grey Warden," the human spoke up before Theron proceeded with introducing Morrigan. Zevran, whom I assumed was the assassin, was out running some errands.

He went on with telling me of all the ways he could financially support me - how he knew about my situation I didn't know - and I sighed.

"Don't bother," I mumbled. I was too depressed to put up with finances anymore. With Eric gone, I had no reason to stay, let alone to live.

"I'm sorry about what happened," Theron tried again, "but you have to keep going. For him."  
"No," I shook my head, "not anymore." Then something crossed my mind, something that could give me another purpose.

"Let me join you."


	13. Regret

Alistair coughed at my request. "You're joking."

"She isn't," Sten interfered. A long while of silence ensued with Theron watching me with a calculating gaze while I fiercely stared him down.

"I can help you," I insisted, "There are too many people who want you dead. You're going to need every help you can get."

The elf nodded slowly, seeming to be pondering. "Do you have any combat experience?"

"I wouldn't ask if I didn't."

Again, he was contemplating. Morrigan and Alistair tried swaying him from accepting me into the party, receiving no reaction from Theron.  
He had waited until they grew silent before revealing his final decision.

"Deal."

"What?" Morrigan and Alistair asked in unison, perplexed, until they broke out into protest.

"I stand by my decision," Theron stated sternly, sending them an authoritative glare, "and I will not tolerate any objections."

Then he turned to me before leaving the room. "Gather your belongings. We're leaving today."

Alistair groaned as he followed him outside. "Aw, no comfy beds? Come on, Theron!"

When I arrived outside, geared and armed with my two daggers, my hair tied up in a ponytail, I received approving glances from Theron and Leliana who smiled at me.

"Now we just need to collect Zevran and Tamlen, and we'll be good to go."

"Not yet," I said, "there's something else that needs to be done."  
I told them about the posters and Howe's hunt for Grey Wardens and their supporters.

Upon agreeing to take them down, we set off to find Paedan and his soldiers at the Pearl, and I prepared myself mentally to face him. What would he say? Would he admit to his guilt and apologize? Or would he try to kill me? _I_ _guess only time will tell._

* * *

Once we arrived, we were already welcomed by a mabari and Zevran who was grinning from ear to ear. For a second, his face fell when he recognized mine, and it wasn't long until he was smirking again.

"And here I thought I'd never see your beautiful face again," he chuckled, "it must be fate, no?"

"Shut up," I drawled with narrowed eyes, "I will not put up with you. Not now."

Theron raised a brow, but did not respond to our conversation, focusing on the matter at hand, "Step in line, Zevran. We have no time for quarrels." With that he entered the hallway, searching for the right door. Finding it, he motioned for us to stop and beckoned me over.

"You stay back," he whispered and knocked.

A voice boomed from the other side of the door, asking for the password.

"The griffons will rise again," was Theron's answer.

"Come in."

With a click, the door was unlocked, ready to be opened. The Warden nodded at the rest of the group before entering, and as if on cue, everyone positioned themselves. Alistair and Sten were closely behind, Zevran disappeared and Leliana and Morrigan stepped in after the warriors. I made sure to stay behind them.

The room was fairly small, yet big enough for us all to fit in. The walls formed a tight corridor leading to a bedchamber, granting little movement for a group of seven people.

"Another Grey Warden supporter." My breath hitched at the sound of the all too familiar voice and I gulped.

"Not just a supporter, Paedan. That's a Grey Warden," spoke the female elf, "he's the one Arl Howe is looking for." My hands balled into fists. _Paedan_. Truth to be told, even though I had read his letter, I tried to deny the truth somehow. Him being there shouldn't have come as a surprise, yet it did. And experiencing the truth with my own eyes and ears hurt even more so.

"Our trap landed a Warden? You've got one chance to surrender," Paedan said with such a smugness to his tone that it incited a seething rage within me. I couldn't stand by and watch them fight. I needed to confront him myself.

As I made my way through our group, Theron scoffed, "Walk now and you live, fools." I could imagine him rolling his eyes while he said that.

"We're not common guards, Warden," Paedan spat arrogantly, "we're Howe's elite. Shaevra-"

He stopped mid-sentence as I emerged between Sten and Theron, his mouth agape as our eyes met. I was staring him down silently and while I might have seemed calm, I was fuming inside. My face was devoid of any emotion, my eyes half-lidded and my mind blank. There was nothing for me to say.

I had felt Theron's hand snap around my wrist and I knew he had been about to reprimand me for not following his instructions. Yet my gaze rested entirely upon Paedan, filled with resentment. Nothing else seemed to matter to me.

"Liona?" He was baffled. At a loss of words. I did not answer, for my glare was enough to convey my message. I expected an explanation.

"I- I'm sorry," he stammered and approached me with his arms reaching out to me, his hands cupping my face, "you weren't supposed to know."

"That's all you have to say? That you're sorry?" My voice was nothing but a whisper, my words leaving through gritted teeth. "Tell that to my son who will spend his entire life in the Circle from now on."

Surprise flashed through his face as his hands left my face, now resting on my shoulders. "What do you mean?"  
A quick glance at Shaevra was enough of an answer. Her lips curled upwards into a smirk, seconds before my knife landed in his neck. Without sparing but a glance at Paedan, I stared at Shaevra unblinkingly as she was watching him gurgle and choke to death, falling to the side motionlessly. Her smile was gone.

"I thought you found it amusing," I remarked nonchalantly, while drawing my daggers. "Not so smug anymore, are we?"

She clicked her tongue in response. "You bitch," she snarled, lunging at me. I was about to parry her blow when an icicle whizzed past me, burying itself into her eye socket. Taking the opportunity, Alistair decapitated her in one swift motion just as Sten positioned himself before me, handling the two remaining soldiers together with Theron.

Our numbers and the element of surprise had granted us a great advantage. With Shaevra and Paedan dealt with, it was only a matter of seconds until the rest was down, as well.

My daggers clattered to the floor once it was finally over. My eyes filled with tears as I stood before Paedan's corpse, but I did not allow for them to fall. After a while, I was approached by Leliana asking me if I was alright. I shook my head. I did not dare answer, afraid that my words would come out in a sob.

I heard armour clatter and rustle around me and noticed someone else approaching.

"Give her a moment," Leliana spoke while stroking my back. Once it was just the two of us, my tears finally fell, drowned in sobs.


	14. Camp

I never regretted much in my life. Even knowing Edward would leave me at some point, I still would have travelled with him, built a family together. After all, those choices would have led to the birth of two beautiful children.

What I did regret was killing Paedan. Yet I could not help but wonder why. Why was I able to let Edward go, but not Paedan? Was it because of all the years that had passed ever since his disappearance? Or rather because Edward left of his own whereas Paedan had died so suddenly?

Perhaps it was because of the idea of questions remaining unanswered. Edward, were he still alive, would have answers if I ever were to find him. Yet I would never know if Paedan truly loved me or not. If he had given up on turning me in for being a Grey Warden supporter. What if he wasn't responsible for the templars taking Eric away? I would never forget the mixture of surprise and shock on his face upon hearing of the news.

'No,' I told myself, 'he deserved it. He must have killed and tortured dozens of people ever since Ostagar.'

"Liona?" I heard Leliana call out to me outside of my tent. "Dinner is about to be ready. Morrigan's cooking."  
I closed my eyes with a sigh. She wanted me to come out, didn't she?

By the time I was out, night had already fallen.

"There you are," she greeted me with a warm smile, "let's sit with the others."

I let her lead me to the campfire where everyone else was seated while Morrigan was cooking. All but Sten were engaged in conversations, although his expression seemed to lighten up when he saw me, acknowledging me with a nod.  
When Theron called to me, I decided to sit with him.

"How are you feeling?"

I shrugged. "Better, now that I had some time to think. Thank you."

He seemed conflicted, possibly contemplating about what to say, until he finally spoke up, "you know, if it makes you feel better... our treaty obligates the mages to aid us in case of a Blight. I can take you with me to the Circle once we go there."

Tears of joy filled my eyes as hope filled my heart. "Thank you," I whispered, taking one of his hands into both of mine, squeezing it gently, "thank you so much."

"It's the least I can do," he nodded at me with a faint smile.

Silence ensued between us as we listened to Zevran and Alistair's conversation about religion.

"…But you kill people. For money," Alistair said incredulously.

"And I ask forgiveness for my sins from the Maker every chance I get. What manner of monster do you think I am?" Zevran objected.

"But you ask forgiveness and then you go right on with your killing!" Alistair argued and the elf shrugged. "The Maker has never objected. Why should you?"

I raised an eyebrow at Zevran and wondered what was more unsettling: the fact that he would make such a joke or that he actually meant what he said. Judging by his serious expression, I settled for the latter.

"I… have no idea," Alistair mumbled, admitting his defeat, his gaze drifting to the fire in thought.

"Well, there you go. Perhaps you ought to think about asking for a little forgiveness yourself, huh?"

I couldn't help but shake my head disapprovingly. 'What a twisted personality,' I thought.

"The Maker would forgive you only if you truly regretted your sins," I commented to which he smirked.

"And you, my dearest Liona. Are you religious?" Zevran asked, avoiding my remark.

"That is none of your business."

"Ah, you wound me, fair woman. Here I thought we might want to get to know each other." He grabbed his chest theatrically, bowing his head in mocked sadness.

Morrigan rolled her eyes. "Supper is ready."


	15. The Dalish

We were headed for the Brecilian Forest. Since the Dalish were bound to the treaties against the Blight, Theron decided to go there first. While I would have preferred to go to the Circle first, I did not blame him for choosing otherwise. It made sense, since he was a Dalish himself.

Despite our colourful company, the clan presented us with a warm welcome. Us being with Theron somehow took away all their suspicions against us.

We were allowed to move freely inside of their camp, so whereas Zevran, Morrigan and Leliana had left to explore, I stayed with Theron alongside the other two warriors. Zathrian, the Keeper of the clan, asked us to bring him Witherfang's heart, a spirit that controlled werewolves in the forest and dictated their attacks against the clan. His heart would be able to cure anyone who had been bitten and prevent them from turning into beasts, so did Zathrian say.

We had no other choice than to help, which Theron did gladly, since the Dalish were in no condition to fight. So with our objective clear, we moved out deeper into the forest. I noticed Sten's disgruntled attitude upon hearing Theron's decision, although he would not tell me why other than that it was pointless.  
He had kept himself distant ever since I joined and it worried me to see him so, though I let the matter rest because I trusted him to open up to me again, given some time.

The forest outskirts were quiet and peaceful with no signs of werewolves and after what felt like hours of walking, we came upon darkspawn.

"No wonder it's been so quiet here," Theron sighed, nodding at Sten and Alistair to move out after Tamlen had already run ahead, jumping onto a hurlock and shredding it to pieces. Zevran and I hid in between bushes and trees, moving around either side of the large group of enemies to flank them.  
Leliana, using the forest to her advantage, had climbed a tree, leaping from one branch to another until she found a clear shot. Morrigan followed the warriors, backing them up from behind.

Due to their large numbers, the battle was very strenuous. Zevran and I made sure to take out the archers simultaneously to surprise them. Those remaining were unable to decide which of us to fight first, so we were able to make quick work of them, too.

"Liona, behind you!" Leliana warned me as the ground began to shake and vibrate beneath my feet, but it was already too late. A giant hand wrapped around my waist and I was lifted up into the air, face to face with an ogre. It looked me over for a moment, then roared as its grip grew tighter and tighter, prepared to crush me. I gasped for air, unable to breathe, as black dots began covering my vision.

"Liona!" I could barely hear Theron calling out to me before giving out new orders, just as a pained bellow sounded from the ogre. My limp body falling to the ground, I saw Zevran dodging the darkspawn's fist, one of his daggers lodged into its leg. Tamlen threw himself on its other leg before hurrying away, barking and growling to keep its attention.

Arrows and icicles flew past me as I attempted to stand while Tamlen was being chased by the ogre. Zevran came to my side to hoist me up and carried me out of its reach.  
The warriors rushed past us with Theron reaching the limping ogre first. With a fierce battle cry, he leapt up to bury his sword into its chest as it cried out in pain, falling to the ground. The elf pulled out his blade only to sink it into the beast's skull and everything grew quiet. Its arms fell lifelessly to the ground as life left its body.

"Now that's what I call team work," Zevran remarked with a grin as we watched Theron drag out his sword, panting, "are you alright, fair maiden?"

"She is not," Morrigan snarked, "step aside."  
She knelt down before me as Zevran made way for her, scanning my body for wounds. I was still in a daze and my reactions were minimal, at best.  
When we were surrounded by the rest of the group, Zevran got up to retrieve his dagger.

"How is she?" Theron asked as he watched her, worry on his face. A weak smile formed on my face as I was about to respond.  
"She will live," Morrigan answered for me as she digged in her pouch for herbs, "apart from a concussion, all is well."  
"Thank the Maker," Leliana sighed in relief.

"We should make camp for now," Theron announced, "we need to wait for Liona to recover." 


	16. Beasts

I awoke to Tamlen resting beside me.  
His head jerked up as I moved, lifting my hand to pet him, and he wagged his tail happily.  
"Good boy," I whispered as he licked my fingers before getting up and hurrying out of the tent with a bark.

Shortly after, he came back, bringing Theron with him who smiled upon seeing me.  
"I'm glad you're awake," he spoke, kneeling beside me, "how are you feeling?"  
"Better," I responded, "thank you."

"We thought it was best to set up camp overnight and let you recover. Now that you're awake, we should get underway soon."

"Of course."

He smiled, handing over a loaf of bread which I gladly accepted. "Here. Come on outside once you're ready to leave."

With that he left the tent, followed closely by his mabari. As soon as I was dressed, I joined the others and we began packing up our tents.  
While doing so, I noticed darkspawn corpses carefully placed around our camp, engulfing it with their rotten stench.

"You must be wondering why we surrounded ourselves with dead darkspawn," Leliana chuckled as she noticed my disgusted expression. 'Perhaps I'd rather not know,' I thought to myself as I concentrated on disassembling my tent. She explained it anyway.

"Morrigan had the brilliant idea to line them up around camp to keep the werewolves away. Apparently, the animals dislike them as much as we do."

"Makes sense," I answered, grimacing, "nobody wants to be around that smell."

After our encounter with the darkspawn, life seemed to return to the forest and it wasn't long until we met the first werewolves.  
We had arrived at a creek surrounding a small isle and just as we had been about to cross the bridge, three wolves had blocked our path. They stood on their hind legs, much like humans, with their shoulders slumped forward. Their bodies were covered in fur and their faces were more wolfish than human, their maws baring rows of sharp teeth at us.

What surprised me most of all was their ability to speak. They were not the mindless beasts Zathrian had made us believe they were.

"The watch-wolves have spoken truly, my brothers and sisters," their leader growled, "another Dalish, come to put us in our place, come to make us pay for the attack."

Theron raised an eyebrow, just as surprised. "You speak?" He asked. "I thought werewolves were savage beasts."

"We are beasts, but we are no longer simple and mindless," drawled the leader. "Let that thought chill your spine."

At that the two other wolves snarled, baring their teeth menacingly to prove its point.

"You speak to Swiftrunner," it continued, "I lead my cursed brothers and sisters. Hrr. Turn back now, go back to the Dalish and tell them that you have failed."

Leliana and I exchanged unsure glances. She seemed to be as intimidated by those beasts as I was.

"Tell them we will watch them suffer the same curse we have suffered for too long. We will watch them pay!"

Theron scoffed. "Begone, beast, or suffer the consequences."

My eyes widened and snapped towards the elf. Was he seriously going to provoke them instead of trying to solve the matter peacefully now that we knew they were reasonable? And why were they so keen on bestowing the curse on especially the Dalish?

"We are not afraid of you," Swiftrunner snarled and they bent forward into a fighting stance. "Come, brothers and sisters!"

"No, wait!" I couldn't help but interfere, and almost panickingly so, moving between Theron and Swiftrunner. "I believe this is a misunderstanding. You are sensible, Swiftrunner, are you not? Let us not end this in a blood bath."

After a moment of hesitation, Swiftrunner relaxed with a low growl. "Was it not Zathrian who sent you? He wishes only our destruction. Never to talk!"

"You attacked his clan, why should he not retaliate?" Theron inquired, crossing his arms. When I glanced back at him, I caught him glaring at me disapprovingly.

Another growl. "You know nothing, do you? Nothing of us and even less of those you serve. You are a fool, and we are done talking." Swiftrunner bent down so that we were face to face, his glare shifting back and forth between Theron and me. "Run from the forest while you can. Run to the Dalish and tell them they are doomed."

I felt a hand grab my wrist as Theron gently pushed me behind him, raising his chin and bravely glaring back at the beast, accepting its threat and matching it with one of his own. "I'm going nowhere."

Swiftrunner relented with a submitting growl, motioning for the two other wolves to stand down. "Hrr. Very well. I will not risk throwing my people at you like unthinking brutes," it finally said, more calmly this time, and ordered a retreat. "The forest has eyes of its own and it will deal with intruders as it always has."

With that, the werewolves retreated back into the forest, leaving us to discuss the situation.

"It seems the Keeper is withholding viable information," Morrigan remarked with a hint of amusement in her tone, "I wonder if there's more he is refusing to tell us."

"What if they're lying?" Alistair questioned.

"Those who seek retribution never lie," was Sten's answer.

Theron frowned. "Let's just keep moving." 


	17. Disappointment

We had met the Grand Oak, a rhyming spirit possessing an oak tree and speaking in riddles.  
It informed us of a magical barrier in the center of the forest and that only creatures of the forest would be able to pass. Thus, it offered us a piece of its wood in exchange for its lost acorn we were supposed to find.

"This is ridiculous," Theron grumbled as we trekked our way through the forest, "we should have just killed it and taken its wood."

"Well, at least we have the acorn, yes?" Leliana attempted to cheer him up to which the Warden sighed. "Yes, and wasted a lot of time in the process."

He was right. We had spent a whole day searching for the madman who had stolen the acorn, and by then night was already falling.

"Liona, you and Zevran go scout the forest for somewhere to set up camp," Theron ordered, "we'll meet up by the Grand Oak."

"As you wish, Warden," was his reply and we went off together.

We did not talk much while we were scouting, focused on the task at hand. Thus, I was drowning in my thoughts as usual. I thought about Theron as I was unable to wrap my head around his personality. There were times when he acted impulsively, yet he showed his good intentions just as often. He was but a child to me, thrown into this chaos so suddenly and forced to lead a small group into a war against an entire army of monsters.

Still, he was taking his duty very seriously, even if he made the wrong decisions. I remembered his outburst after I had stepped in to reason with Swiftrunner. He had been very disappointed in me, just as I had been in him.

* * *

"You're undermining my authority!" Theron ranted once we were out of the group's hearing range.  
"I was merely keeping you from making a wrong decision," was my sole answer, "you cannot simply kill everything in your way."

"They are beasts who attacked my people," he growled, "they deserve to die."

"No matter how loyal you are to your people, Zathrian lied, Theron. They are not just some mindless animals. Their attack was an act of _revenge._ There must be more he refuses to tell us."

He scoffed. "So what will you have me do, then? Turn on my people?" He did not understand, did he? Why could he not realize that not everything was to be solved with violence?

"That is not what I am trying to tell you," I objected, disappointed in his lack of comprehension, "I just want you to look for peaceful ways of handling such situations. We cannot go around war-mongering against everyone, especially not now."

"There is no way of handling this peacefully," came his bitter response and I cut him off before he could continue. "There is always a way. Let them live and be at peace. Do not let your anger go to your head."

He grew quiet, mulling over my words, and quickened his pace as a way to end our conversation. I was not mad at him; I could understand he was conflicted, so I let him be. The only thing I could hope for then was for him to heed my words and avoid unnecessary bloodshed.

* * *

Suddenly, Zevran came to an abrupt halt, looking around in confusion.

"Weren't we here before?" He muttered to himself.

I was still lost in thought and realized it too late, bumping into him. "What?"

"Ah, so the fair maiden has decided to return to reality," he chuckled in response. "You should be more alert, though. I will not always be there to save you."

"You're right," I confessed before apologizing.

"No need to apologize." He winked at me with a sly smirk before he walked past me into a fog.  
I was about to follow only to almost run into him again as he had suddenly turned around, walking towards me. He was just as confused as I was and it took me a long while to realize what was happening.

"It seems like we have found the center of the forest."


	18. The Den

The next day we had immediately set out for the forest's center, the fog clearing as we passed through with the Grand Oak's wood.

"The forest has not been vigilant enough. Still you come," Swiftrunner growled menacingly, blocking our path, "you are stronger than we could have anticipated. The Dalish chose well. But you do not belong here, outsiders. Leave this place!"

"Why won't you let us try to settle this dispute?" I asked worriedly and Theron placed a hand on my shoulder as Swiftrunner roared with anger, "You are sent by the treacherous Dalish to kill Witherfang! I will not stand by and allow that to happen!"

Now it was Theron's turn to speak. "Why do you call the Dalish treacherous? You attacked them."

"And they deserved no less. You are an intruder in our home! You come to kill, as all your kind do! We have learned that lesson well." With that, Swiftrunner let out a piercing howl, followed by the werewolves, and Tamlen in return vigorously growled and barked at them. Soon after, they attacked.

They fought with so much ferocity it was easy to forget that they were all still human. Swiftrunner targeted Theron while the others randomly ran for whoever of us was nearest.

No matter how well we hid, Zevran and I had a hard time flanking them, since they always seemed to notice us. Whether it was due to them picking up our scent or something else, I didn't know.

I wanted to tell them to stop, that I did not want to hurt them, that we could settle this without violence, but their attacks came so quickly I never even had a chance to talk, much less think.

Theron seemed to be handling Swiftrunner well, inflicting precise cut wounds with his blade while blocking most of its vicious blows.

Alas, such haste came for a price and it wasn't long until the wolves' attacks slowed down, granting the Warden a chance to sink his blade into Swiftrunner's shoulder who yelped in response.

Then, all of a sudden, a great white wolf appeared and leapt onto Theron, causing him to fall back. In that moment the others withdrew, the wolf I had been fighting glared at me with its teeth bared.

Soon after, they retreated with the white wolf, leaving us baffled.

"So that must have been Witherfang," Theron assumed, sheathing his sword.

"Such a magnificent creature," Leliana sighed dreamily.

"If there's nothing else, we're moving on."

Thus, we kept going, following the werewolves to an ancient ruin.

"I think this is it," Alistair commented to which Morrigan rolled her eyes in response, almost as if to say it was obvious. "Kind of flea heaven, isn't it?"

Apart from werewolves, we encountered many different creatures, such as giant spiders, undead and even a dragon.

"I wonder what kind of spirit took hold of these," the witch mused upon defeating the skeletons.

"Do we even want to know?" Alistair inquired and she scoffed in disgust. She truly despised his very being, didn't she?

As we descended deeper into the ruins, we encountered more werewolves. However, they were not hostile, wishing to parley on behalf of someone they called the 'Lady of the forest.'

Hope glimmered in my eyes as Theron glanced into my direction as if to seek advice and I eagerly nodded for him to grant them their wish. Thus, we followed the gatekeeper who led us into a great hall with Swiftrunner and a grey woman standing in a clearing at the end of the hall, where sunlight broke through.

She was eerily beautiful. Branches engulfed her bare body, leading from her feet to her waist. Her smooth silky hair was raven black and her eyes just as dark. Gazing into her eyes felt like staring into a void.

"I bid you welcome, mortals," she greeted us with a bow of her head and introduced herself as the Lady of the forest. It seemed like Zevran was just as enchanted by her presence, commenting her beauty. Although, coming from him, that was not much of a surprise.

"Really?" Theron asked. "You seem more like the Lady of the Ruin to me."  
I couldn't help but let out an annoyed sigh, but I was glad she did not react to his remark. Instead, she engaged him into a conversation about Zathrian, explaining everything he hadn't told us.

According to her, Zathrian had had children, one of whom had been killed by bandits and the other raped. Upon realizing she was with child, she commited suicide.

"Zathrian came to this ruin and summoned a terrible spirit, binding it to the body of a great wolf. So Witherfang came to be," Swiftrunner finished the tale.

"As twisted and savage just as Witherfang himself is," the Lady added.

"Which means that Zathrian misled us," I concluded.

"Are you really surprised?" Alistair asked me. "You?"

"Not at all. Though I am surprised at his willingness to let his clan suffer for revenge."

Yet, Theron was the only one unable to wrap his head around it, denying the keeper's guilt at first. "Forget it. I'll find Witherfang the hard way."

"Hm. I see where this is headed," Zevran mumbled, "downhill. Quickly, too."

It had taken us all, except for Morrigan and Sten, to convince him to spare the wolves and confront Zathrian instead. He did not take it well, but contained his anger and walked off to find him.

Unsurprisingly, he was already waiting for us at the entrance to the ruin, looking us over with an expectant gaze. "Ah. Here you are already."

"Didn't trust me, did you?" Theron's accusing tone did not go unnoticed.

"He wishes to see if we did his work for him," Morrigan chuckled, "is that not why you are here now, sorcerer?"

Zathrian glared at her, unimpressed. "Do not call me that, witch. I am keeper of this clan and have done what I must." Then he turned to the Warden, asking if he had acquired the heart.

"No, I didn't," was his response as he crossed his arms. One could almost feel the anger radiating off of his body, yet he kept calm as if to wait for the right moment to unleash his wrath.

"You didn't?" Zathrian asked with a tone one would use when talking to a child. "May I ask, then, why are you leaving the ruin?"

Ignoring the question, Theron retaliated with one of his own. "So you knew about the ruin. Why didn't you tell me?"

"There was no need. I knew you would find it, and I did not care to give you a history lesson about things that have no bearing on your purpose here. But it seems the spirit convinced you to act on her behalf. Might I inquire what she wants?"

Theron explained that she wouldn't summon Witherfang unless he broke the curse, to which Zathrian smirked. "You do understand that she actually _is_ Witherfang?" Came his mocking question without receiving a desired reaction.

"Yes, I thought as much," Theron answered, his expression remaining blank. If he was surprised, he hid it well.

The keeper continued with explaining her true nature, that she was both maiden and beast. "The curse came first from her. Those she afflicted with it mirrored her own nature, becoming savage beast as well as human."

"This curse first came from you," the Warden drawled, his patience seemingly coming to an end.

Zathrian justified himself over and over again, yet Theron did not even bat an eye. We could not help but watch their fight of words in intrigue.

"You are Dalish," the keeper tried to talk into his conscience, "you know how we must struggle to be safe, how we must fight for justice. I could not let their crimes unanswered!"

"But it's your own people suffering now, as well as them."

"Tell me, if you held your daughter's lifeless body in your arms, would you not also have sworn an eternity of pain on those who did such to her?"

"I might have, but who is being punished now?"

Soon, Zathrian relented half-heartedly, agreeing to listen to the spirit all the while begging Theron to side with him.

I raised an eyebrow. At this point, I began doubting that it was about his children. "I truly wonder what your children would say to such selfishness," I mused, "mine would never want me to punish them to such an extent."

We arrived at the sanctum only to have Zathrian disregard their pleas throughout their entire conversation.

When the spirit revealed that Zathrian had used blood magic to seal the curse, Theron's restlessness grew. "Your people believe you have rediscovered the immortality of their ancestors, Zathrian, but that is not true. So long as the curse exists, so do you."

That seemed to be the final straw for Theron and he snapped. "I can't believe you would betray your people for revenge!"

Major unrest settled among the werewolves as Zathrian continued to justify himself. A fight was inevitable.

The keeper awakened spirits, bringing the trees in the sanctum to life and casting one spell after another at us.

Theron ordered the group to engage the spirits while Zevran and I were tasked to flank Zathrian, throwing fire bombs at the trees on our way.

However, the mage was nearly unreachable due to his power, teleporting back and forth. Sten had no other choice but to draw his spells with Morrigan shielding him from the worst and Alistair dispelling some of them.

That choice led to a more fluent group dynamic, yet leaving Morrigan and Leliana nearly defenseless, having only Theron to back them up.

It was a long battle, one from which we emerged victorious. Zathrian had given up just before Theron collapsed into Morrigan's arms as she began examining his body for wounds. My worry for him caused me to feel an urge to rush to his side and make sure he was alright, but I trusted her to take care of him.

"I cannot do as you ask, spirit," Zathrian panted, holding onto his staff weakly, "I am too old… to know mercy. All I see are the faces of my children, my people. I… I cannot do it."

"Is that true?" I wondered as we all stared down at him. "Or are you afraid of dying?"

"Perhaps I have… lived too long," he acknowledged. "This hatred in me is like an ancient, gnarled root… It has consumed my soul."

At that, my resentment towards him dissipated. Zathrian was right. He was consumed by his hatred just as we were consumed by anger towards him. Now, with him finally opening his eyes, ready to show mercy, we needed to put an end to our own hatred, showing him just the same.

After all, even he deserved to die with dignity. 


	19. Melancholy

It's weird how easily one's fate can be twisted at the hands of others. While it certainly could be considered a boon, people seemed to always use that power to crush it.

'Did I destroy Eric's future?' I wondered. Despite all of my best efforts to keep him safe, I had failed him. Because of _me_ , he had been stripped from a comfortable life and forced into a cage.

That is what I considered the Circle. Everyone knew that life in seclusion could be worse than a death sentence - much like prison. Although, instead of dwelling in one room, one got to move around freely inside of a tower for the rest of their life with the illusion of freedom behind those walls.

Would Eric ever forgive me? I shook my head. He would probably rather blame Paedan and those templars. Still, I couldn't help but worry.  
What was life in the Circle actually like? Did they allow visitors? Had Eric been received well there?

However, these thoughts soon came to a halt as groaning sounded beside me. Theron was finally waking.  
I extended my hands to him, helping him to sit up.

"How long was I out?" He grumbled sleepily, grimacing as he held his aching side.

"Two days. You collapsed shortly after the fight."

The Warden nodded slowly as he let my words sink in before letting his gaze wander around our camp, noticing he was not in his tent. "We thought some fresh air would do you well," I answered his unspoken question and received another nod.

"Do we have their support?"

"Of course."

He smiled at me gratefully. "Thank you. I don't know what would have happened without you."

"Don't mention it," I responded with a shake of my head, "it was you who made the decision, after all."

Silence ensued with both of us retreating deep into our thoughts. I closed my eyes, enjoying the slight chill the night breeze brought onto my cheeks, a contrast to the warmth of the campfire on my hands.

"You know, my loyalty to my people blinded me," Theron eventually spoke up, "I never fathomed that anyone of the Dalish could become so… corrupt. After all, corruption was something only shemlen were known for. No offense."

I chuckled. "None taken."

"In the back of my mind I knew Zathrian was responsible for the curse all along, and I felt so betrayed and… angry whenever someone would point that out, because I kept denying the truth."

Tears glimmered in his eyes, threatening to fall, and I scooted closer to him as soon as I noticed, my hand stroking his back as he continued.

"I'm sorry for lashing out at you earlier. You never deserved it," he almost sobbed, his voice shaky as he struggled to uphold his composure. Soon, his head sank onto my shoulder and he buried his face in my neck. I felt his moist tears on my skin as I caressed his head.  
My heart filled with compassion for the young man as well as sorrow as he wept on my shoulder, reminding me of the times when my son had done just the same.

I didn't know he was motherless then, though it made sense when I found out.  
I found myself wondering about his childhood, but didn't dare ask at such a vulnerable moment. Right then, he needed me - a shoulder to cry upon - and I realized I needed him just as much to be reminded of my children and the familiarity providing comfort brought me.

We lingered like that for a while after his sobs died, his short hitched breaths now becoming drawn out and relaxed. His eyes remained closed as he enjoyed the sensation of my fingers combing through his golden hair.

Once his voice recovered, he spoke again, "I don't know what terrible mistake I would have made without you back then. I'm glad to have you here."

A meek smile formed on my lips. "Being a Grey Warden in times like these is an enormous burden, especially at such a young age," I responded, "if there is anything you need, we will all be there for you."

"And what about you?" Theron asked. "What will you do once we reach the Circle?"

I sighed. "I guess I'll keep travelling with you nonetheless. Once a mage has been brought to the Circle, there is not much to be done about it, is there?"

After he had withdrawn, I felt his sympathetic gaze upon me as I stared stubbornly into the fire, withholding my own bitter tears.

There was indeed nothing one could do. Freeing Eric from the clutches of the Chantry would never be possible. The only thing I could hope for was their permission to visit my son in the future.

Suddenly, a hand was placed atop mine, urging me to shift my gaze into Theron's. He smiled at me warmly, offering to take over my shift so that I could rest.

"No," was my firm answer, "you have yet to fully recover."

"That's an order," he smirked and my eyes narrowed. "Now get up and get some sleep. I can handle this."

After a while of staring into each other's eyes, I relented, bidding him a good night as I retreated into my tent, telling myself that Leliana would be taking over in a few hours anyway.


	20. Lothering

We had left the forest, continuing our journey to the docks of Lake Calenhad along the West Road. I knew where the highway would lead us and I tried to get my mind off of it desperately.

Fortunately, Zevran fell into step with me to have a chat.

"So, Liona," he began casually, a charming smirk resting on his face, "your boy, Eric."

And already I detested his presence. Still, I engaged into a conversation with him, partly because I was curious, but also because I felt like I owed him after he had saved my life in the forest.

"Yes?" I urged him to continue, which he did.

"I am curious as to his age. How come he is almost a young man with you looking young enough to be his sister rather than his mother?"

I sighed. Of course, his question would have something to do with _me_.

"He is fourteen," was my sole response and I could feel his expectant gaze waiting for me to continue. When I did not, however, he inquired again. "Then you must have been very young when you received him, no?"

"Correct."

"How old were you then?" Came his subtle attempt of asking me about my age. Refraining from rolling my eyes, I answered, preparing myself for the load of questions that would follow.

"I was 17 when I received him."

"17? Isn't that a bit too soon to have a child?" It was Alistair who asked that question, looking back at me with wide eyes as he, too, slowed his pace to walk next to me.

"More like too late," I sighed in response, "my parents wanted to marry me off to some nobleman when I was 15, so I would have received a child much sooner. Instead, I ran away and travelled with a man whom I later married."

"And… that man of yours," Zevran began, "where is he now?"

"Gone. Whether he is dead or not, I do not know."

Alistair's eyes shifted onto the ground understandingly while the elf nodded with a hum.

"I am sorry for your loss," the templar eventually spoke. "Losing him and your daughter must have hurt a great deal." And it still did.

The assassin raised an eyebrow as if to ask me about Allison. I was glad when he did not, but instead reverted to a different topic, a lavish grin growing on his face as he spoke. "Surely a young and beautiful woman such as yourself must have enjoyed the company of equally young and handsome men."

I knew where that was going. "No," I drawled. "There were none, save for one, and I would prefer it to stay that way."

A defeated sigh left his lips as he shook his head in mocked disappointment before his grin fell back into place as he noticed Alistair's cheeks glowing red. "And what about you, Alistair? Have you ever been with a woman before?"

At that, his blush grew darker as his gaze landed anywhere but on Zevran. "Wha- what could you possibly mean? I don't know what you're talking about." Although, judging by his blush, he did fairly well know what the elf was talking about.

"Oh you know very well what I mean, dear Alistair," Zevran insisted.

"You mean if I licked a lamppost in winter? To answer your question, no, I have not. Have you?" Alistair's nervousness made way for a smug tone, which gained a snicker from me. At that, Zevran winked at me before replying with a dirty chuckle, "Oh, I have licked my fair share of lamp posts, I assure you."

Blushing furiously, the templar backed down. "Tha- that's… well. Not so surprising, coming from you."

"I am not that predictable, am I? I can promise you, I am _full_ of surprises," came another innuendo.

"I don't want to find out, do I?" Alistair muttered to himself. "I'll have you know, I am waiting for a certain someone to do it with."

"And I'm sure you'll find her one day," I spoke up, giving the templar an encouraging smile which he returned gratefully.

"Oh, you don't believe that, do you?" Morrigan chimed in. "No woman will ever lay with a dim-witted boy whose intelligence can barely match that of a dog."

An angry bark sounded behind us.

"Don't listen to her, my friend." Zevran whispered, bending his head over to Alistair on my other side. "If all else fails, I can arrange for Sanga's best women at the Pearl."

Hiding my mouth behind my hand, I turned my face away from Alistair and tried to retain my chuckle.

"I hate you," he drawled, "all of you, except for-"  
He stopped mid-sentence as he noticed me holding in a laugh, my face already blushing from all the effort. "No. I hate you all."

* * *

The highway led us to Lothering. We were forced to go through the destroyed village since the path was broken and full of debris.

Memories of my family, Edward's smile as he held Eric in his lap, Allison in my arms, Edward's disappearance and her death flooded into my mind all at once.

At some point, I had begun shaking as I was standing at the exact same spot where the hurlock had been holding my daughter in his grasp. A small skeleton was all that remained of her, just a few feet away from the ramp.

I fell to my knees, caressing the lifeless skull with trembling hands as if she were still alive. I couldn't even give her a proper burial. An arm snuck around my shoulder, dragging me closer to Leliana who gently held my shaking body. Another hand was placed onto my shoulder, squeezing it, and I looked up to see Theron's conflicted expression. It seemed as if he could not decide whether he should smile or not, settling for a subtle lift of the corners of his lips.

"Is that her?" Alistair's voice sounded softly from behind and I nodded weakly. Sten had pushed himself between Theron and I, kneeling beside me as he cited a prayer in Qunlat.  
*"May you find peace in death,"* he ended, his gaze shifting to meet mine, and returned my weak smile with a nod.

"We should bury her still," he proposed and turned towards Theron who did not object. "Of course."

"Thank you." My words came out in but a whisper.

"It's the least we can do after bringing you here," was the Warden's response to which Alistair eagerly nodded his agreement.

Everything happened in a haze then. I was wondering, 'why did we leave her body there when we left the village?'  
I glanced at Sten as I kept asking myself that same question time and time again. As if he knew what was on my mind, he told me there had never been any chance of searching for her body and burying it before.

As the warriors began digging a hole for her, my eyes landed on something sticking out of the mud. When I pulled it out I noticed it was Allison's favourite doll. 'She must have had it with her,' I thought, gently wiping off the dirt and caressing it absent-mindedly.

I could barely hear Alistair calling out to me, informing me that they were done digging.

The burial was ready to be held.


	21. Lake Calenhad

The remaining journey to Lake Calenhad had been uneventful.

Theron and Sten were talking about Asala and agreed to look for his sword once again. When we arrived, however, the corpses of his fallen brothers had decayed to nothing but bones, pillaged by a frail looking man.

"He was not there the last time we were here, was he?" I asked Sten as I nudged his arm. Seeing his stoic expression, I realized my question had fallen onto deaf ears as he walked after Theron who was already talking to the pillager.

"You have not seen a sword lying around here, have you?" He asked and the man frowned. "Why, you looking to buy one?"

A wry smirk spread across his lips as Sten approached. "No, but my very large, angry friend here is."

At that, the pillager's face fell and he began rambling. "Ah, is he? Well, you see... I'd like to sell one, but I … don't have any myself. I've got part of a glove the wolves didn't chew too badly, though. Uh… I think it was a glove, anyway."

A moment of silence ensued with Theron staring at him incredulously. The man peered over at the rest of the group cluelessly, before he took the hint to go on with a sigh. "I know, don't say it, I got cheated. I knew the guy who was here before me sell me this spot. Said he found giants and all kinds of crazy valuables. He didn't mention he'd taken everything but the bones and the dirt already."

Sten grunted, shifting restlessly on his feet. His impatience was beginning to show, yet the pillager did not seem all too fazed by it.

"His name's Faryn," he continued. "Squirrely little bastard, if you ask me. Which you didn't but I said it anyway."

Theron's head sank into his palm with a sigh. "And where is he now?" He asked without bothering to meet the man's gaze as he massaged his temples.

"He was going to Orzammar, he said. I imagine he's gotten there by now. If you find him, tell him I sent you! It'll scare the piss out of him!" He replied with a grin before turning away to continue his pillaging, all the while laughing to himself.

At a loss of words, Theron simply shook his head. "This is ridiculous," he muttered to himself before raising his head to face Sten. "I'm sorry, but your sword has to wait until we get to Orzammar," he apologized to which the qunari let out a simple grunt. "I did not expect to find it here, anyway."

"Don't worry, Sten. We'll find it," I spoke, gently squeezing his hand. "We'll see," came his unimpressed reply.

* * *

"Is it just me or has dusk settled a bit too early?" Alistair wondered to which we all just shrugged.

Theron, being already a few feet ahead of us, was able to provide an answer, though. "There are too many clouds for the sun to shine through."

"Or perhaps it's the mages' work to scare off intruders," Zevran added jokingly, gesturing towards the tower in the distance which we were able to see clearly now.

My eyes grew wide as I caught sight of the gigantic tower upon a lone island, my suspicions confirmed. This was the Circle? It was nothing more than a prison, after all.  
Dread was already filling my bones upon the thought of my son spending the rest of his entire life there. Subconsciously, I shook my head in both disbelief and disappointment, bringing a hand to my gaping mouth.

"Now the poor woman is shocked for life," Morrigan commented nonchalantly, having noticed my reaction. " 'Tis a shame, truly. I would have wished another fate for the boy."

At that, the party's heads jerked around to watch me, just in time as I regained my composure.  
My gaze shifted onto the ground, so as to not meet Theron's gaze, or anyone else's. I did not need pity. What I needed was to see my son immediately.

"I'm sure it will look much better on the inside." Despite all her efforts of encouragement, none of Leliana's words were able to affect me.

"We'll see," came my reply with a frown, before I set off to follow Theron down the path to the docks.

* * *

I had grown impatient and eager to get to the tower and the templar stationed by the ferry made my restlessness no easier to contain.  
He went on and on, bickering with Theron about how he did not believe him to be a Grey Warden and that he hadn't had a meal in ages, until I snapped.

With a resounding slap, my hand connected with his cheek.

"You will get us to the tower _at once,_ or Maker help me, your meal will not be the only thing you'll be missing tonight," I drawled with my dagger drawn.

His face drained of all colour, he stared at me in shock, holding his hand over his cheek. It took him a while to realize my intent as his eyes shifted from my dagger to his crotch and he gulped.

"Alright, alright, I- I will take you to the tower," he stammered with his hands raised defensively, his arms shaking. Without another word, he then swiftly turned around to prepare the ferry.

"To think a woman would be more intimidating than the presence of a qunari…" Alistair trailed off with a grin, amused by the templar's reaction.

"Women can be all kinds of crazy," Zevran added with a shrug, to which Leliana sighed. "Let's just get on with this."

"Judging by the boat's size, it will be impossible for us to go over all at once," Theron spoke, his gaze shifting in between each member of the group. "Which is why I'm taking Liona, Morrigan and Sten with me. Alistair, you and the others investigate in the tavern. See if you can find some clues regarding Genitivi. And Tamlen…"

"Speaking of whom, where is he?" I asked upon noticing the dog's absence. Confused, the group looked around the place, calling for him until Theron sighed. "Calm down, everyone, he's just taking a piss."


	22. The Tower

Upon entering the tower, we were met by the chaos of templars hustling about, in the middle of which stood a man whom I assumed was Greagoir, the Knight-Commander the templar at the docks had mentioned.

"…and I want two men stationed within sight of the doors at all times," he ordered as we were entering, "do not open the doors without my express content. Is that clear?"

"Yes, ser," answered another templar compliantly, before he turned to round up more knights to relay the orders to.

My gaze shifted towards the gigantic doors they were talking about, where I already saw a pair of templars desperately pushing against them as if there were the most vile of beasts on the other side. 'Just what in the world happened here?,' I wondered.

Theron, who seemed to be just as unsettled as I was, approached the Knight Commander purposefully, demanding to know what was going on. He was reluctant to tell us whatever had happened at first, but after Theron insisted and referred to the treaties, the Commander, however displeased he might have been at the notion of the Grey Wardens' growing need of forces against the Blight, began to explain the presence of demons and abominations.

My mind was racing as I listened. Eric had been brought to the Circle which was now under attack by demons? How was he? Where was he? Did he even survive?

In an attempt to push all those ominous thoughts to the back of my mind, I tried to calm myself by taking steady breaths. The situation couldn't possibly be as awful as he made it out it to be, could it? There must be some survivors among the mages.

"The Circle is lost. The tower has fallen." 'And whose fault was that?' I thought bitterly.

A deep frown settled onto my face at those words. I could only imagine how those demons came to be in the first place. One look at the dark walls and cold tiles of the main hall was already enough for me to know that if I were in a mage's position, I would want to revolt against such a secluded life, as well.

"Sounds like the templars haven't been doing their job," I commented bitterly, a mocking smile finding its way onto my lips as I earned a glare from the man. "My men did what they could," he replied through gritted teeth, his tone revealing his suppressed anger, which seemed to turn into grief as he continued, "but it wasn't enough."

He then turned his attention back to Theron as he explained how the templars were taken by surprise as they had only expected two abominations at most.

The Warden raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms as he let his gaze wander around the room, sizing up the templars until he finally asked, "Why don't you rally your men and kill them? There are still plenty of them left."

Greagoir shook his head. "I would destroy the tower, raze it to the ground, but I cannot risk any more of my men. The doors remain shut and they will protect us for now."

"Doors can be broken," remarked Sten stoically to which Theron agreed. "He is right. That's no solution."

"We do not mean for the doors to stay closed forever. Everything in this tower must be eliminated."

My eyes narrowed at his response. "You and your templars have failed your duty and now you seek to destroy _e_ _verything_ past that door, risking the blood of possible survivors on your hands?" I asked incredulously. "Do you even know how petty that sounds for someone whose task was to guard them in the first place?"

"The mages are probably already dead. Any abominations remaining in there must be dealt with no matter what," Greagoir objected with a shake of his head, "I have sent word for Denerim and the Right of Annulment. This situation is dire. There is no alternative - everything in this tower must be destroyed so it can be made safe again."

"The mages are not defenseless," came Theron's response and I nodded in agreement, suggesting to go in before the arrival of the reinforcements.

"You have no idea what they are capable of," Greagoir warned to which Theron responded with a cheeky grin. "Abominations cannot stand against us."

Having no choice but to relent, the Knight-Commander sighed, leading us to the doors.  
However, he would not let us through before one last warning. "We will lock the doors behind you. Once you have breached the doors, there will be no turning back unless you bring us proof that the tower has been purged."

Theron nodded, before holding up a finger to shush the man and turning towards me.  
"Are you sure you want to come with us?" He whispered. "We might not be able to come back."

"I don't care. My son might be in there and I will not leave without having found him."

"Fine." Without another word, the Warden gestured for the templars to open the doors.


	23. Nightmare

"Eric! Eric! Look what I found!" Allison came running towards her brother, eager to show him the snail in her hands.

"Ew! Put that thing away!" Eric's face distorted in disgust as he drew back to avoid the slimy creature his sister was shoving into his face. "I said put it back!"

"Why? It's so cute!"

"Mother! Allison is playing with snails again!"

I chuckled, moving to seperate my children when a hand grabbed my wrist. I turned around to see Edward, his warm smile decorating his chiseled face as his grey eyes glinted under the bright sunlight. "Let's enjoy the moment a bit more," he offered, pulling me into his arms as we watched our children bickering in amusement.

Everything seemed to fade around us as we held onto each other. "Why are you crying?" He suddenly asked. I was crying? My fingers brushed over my wet cheeks and I noticed I had indeed been crying. But why?

"I don't know," came my confused answer to which he simply smiled. "You don't need to cry anymore, my love. I will always be with you."

Something about the last sentence seemed off to me. Why did everything feel so wrong? I was finally with Edward again, yet…  
Again? Why again? Had something happened to him? A searing pain shot through my head as I attempted to refill the blank spaces in my memory.

"Are you alright, love?" I heard him ask. However, the more I thought of how wrong everything seemed to be, the creepier he sounded. His voice was devoid of any compassion, let alone emotion. When I looked back into his face, I noticed how his crooked smile never reached his eyes. This was not Edward. Edward had disappeared four years ago…

My head was pounding with agony as more and more memories came back to me and I groaned, my knees buckling under me.

"Father? What's wrong with Mother?" I could barely register Eric's monotone voice as he and Allison came to my side.

"Your mother is feeling unwell," Edward replied, catching me in his arms as I lost my balance. "Let's go inside, love."

"N-no," I panted as the pain began to subside and I recovered, "I'll be fine."  
I forced a smile and squeezed his hand gently. He nodded, meeting my smile with his eerie one.

When the children continued to play again, I lowered myself onto the grass, followed by Edward. So far, he seemed oblivious of my suspicion and I was thankful for it. I sat there with him, watching our children as I waited. Waited for what? I couldn't remember.

All of a sudden, an arrow whizzed past us and landed in the grass before Edward's feet. My heart pounding, I jerked around, searching for its source as my eyes landed on an elven figure, presumably Dalish. "Get away from her, demon!" He bellowed, nocking another arrow which he aimed at Edward's head this time.

When my gaze shifted towards my husband, I noticed his sinister glare hidden behind brown strands of hair as he lowered his head. "A bandit," he growled, turning his head towards me, "there must be more of that elven scum. Watch yourself, my love."  
A bandit? How was that even possible? Something inside of me told me Theron was no bandit. Theron? Was that his name? How did I know?

"Don't listen to it, Liona! Your husband left long ago! And your daughter died when the darkspawn attacked!" I noticed the urgency in his tone, his voice so full of emotion.

"What do you mean?" Eric interfered. "Ally's right here. Right, Mother?" All eyes landed on me. Six of them were accompanied by morbid smirks. I panicked when Edward's hand moved to rest on my thigh. "Don't listen to him… _l_ _ove_."  
My breath hitched as his hands slowly turned into claws, digging deep into the flesh of my thigh. Tears were threatening to form in my eyes as I was surrounded by horrid creatures looming over me, distorting the faces and bodies of the people they had pretended to be, my family turning into nightmarish beings.

Suddenly, the demon yanked me towards it, its disfigured face approaching mine as it growled, "You will not leave your husband behind, will you?"  
"You are not my husband," I spat, my elbow connecting with his face in a blow, "and even if you were, you'd deserve all the beating you got for leaving _me_ behind."

Another arrow flew past me, lodging itself into the demon's skull before more followed, aiming for the two behind me. Taking advantage of the element of surprise, I swiftly removed the claws, avoiding the other monsters and limping to Theron's side as fast as I could, while he was fending off the remaining demons.

By the time I reached him, he had already made quick work of them and caught me in an embrace as I sobbed, my memories coming back all at once - how Edward had left, how Allison had died and how Eric had been taken away to the Circle. I had been searching for him desperately up until we came upon the sloth demon that trapped us in the Fade, but to no avail. There was no trace of him and the surviving mages we had encountered in the first floor knew nothing of him either.  
Wynne, an elderly mentor of the Circle, had assured me it might not be too late for my son as there must be more survivors at the top of the tower.  
More tears were streaming down my face as the thought of him falling victim to the demons crossed my mind, my fingers digging into the elven armor.

"It's alright," he whispered as he stroked my back, "we'll get out of here, I promise."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Hello! It's been a while, hasn't it? Good news: I don't plan on abandoning this story at all! However, updates won't be as regular as I'd like, since there is just too much going on for me that I have to deal with. Hope y'all are still around, though, because I've got some more chapters up my sleeve!


	24. Torment

When I woke up from my slumber, I was still in a haze.  
Sten was the first to approach me, helping me up and firmly holding my body until I was able to stand by myself.  
"Thank you," I whispered and he nodded. "Raasit," came his reply before we all gathered around Theron to discuss the Litany of Adralla. _It's nothing_.

Wynne explained that its purpose was to dispel powerful magic and that we could use it against whatever the demons and blood mages had prepared in the Harrowing Chamber.

It seemed like the closer we came to the root of all this evil, the more gore we had to face. The floors were littered with something that resembled flesh which had extended all the way to the ceiling, with several eggs planted alongside the walls. The sight alone was already gruesome and no one dared to fathom what kind of creatures were being bred inside those eggs. The abominations, however, were even more atrocious. Very little had remained of their humanity and their bodies and faces were distorted similarly to the demons' in the Fade, with lumps growing on their backs.

One would assume that we became accustomed to fighting those creatures, seeing as we had already cleared the previous three floors, but that was not the case. Sometimes, one of us would forget that their corpses exploded a while after their death, paying the price with slight bruises.  
My inattentiveness, however, was the worst of all. Sten reacted just in time as one of the corpses was about to explode, shielding me from the fire, but my right arm was still too badly burnt for Wynne to heal.

"Vashedan," he cursed, "watch yourself next time."

He seemed to have wanted to add something else, but kept it to himself. I assumed that it was nothing pleasant he had been about to say, but I paid it no mind. I was the foolish one, after all.

I was unable to fight since then. Wynne had done the best she could through her magic, but advised me to stay out of combat, nonetheless.

With nothing else to keep me occupied from my racing mind, I sank deep into my thoughts. The more I thought of my son, the more sorrow and fear overcame me. We almost reached the Harrowing Chamber, yet he was nowhere to be found. What if he had become one of the abominations we struck down? What if-

"You're doing it again." Sten tore me out of my thoughts, his tone revealing disappointment.

"I'm sorry," I apologized quietly, but he shook his head.

"You should get rid of that habit lest it leads to your demise," Morrigan interjected, "there will come a time when there's no one who can save you."

I had heard that phrase from somewhere before. Zevran had told me the same when we had been scouting in the forest.

"That's enough," Theron called from the front, "she's had enough to deal with. I'm sure she'll recover soon."

He sent a short glance into my direction, giving me an encouraging smile as our eyes met, before we reached the door to the final room.

"The door to the Harrowing chamber should be in this room," Wynne announced and Theron nodded in appreciation. "Alright. Everyone, stay alert. There might be demons guarding the entrance."

What we came across, however, was nothing we had expected. Instead of demons, there was a shimmering barrier surrounding a templar who was kneeling in prayer.  
Upon noticing us, he frowned in anger, and I realized how sickly pale he was. Beads of sweat had formed all over his skin, presumably from all the stress and trauma he must have undergone.  
When he spoke, however, his tone was shaky and distressed, his expression morphing into a combination of anger, fear and torment.

"This trick again? I know what you are. It won't work. I will stay strong…" He avoided our gazes and clasped his hands more tightly than before, leaning his head against them as he continued his silent prayer.

"What won't work?" Theron asked with a frown, unsure of how to handle him.

"The boy is exhausted," Wynne explained, inspecting the barrier which sparked dangerously as she attempted to place her fingers on it. She flinched back upon touching it, frowning in confusion. "And this cage… I've never seen anything like it."

She then turned her attention to the templar, offering a gentle smile despite her worried gaze. "Rest easy... help is here."

"Enough vision," the templar spat through gritted teeth, "if anything in you is human… kill me now and stop this game. You broke the others, but I will stay strong, for my sake… for theirs…"

His rambling was cut short as Theron asked about survivors.

"Irving and the other mages who fought Uldred," Wynne specified, "where are they?"

His gaze shifted from confused to horrified. "They are in the Harrowing Chamber. The sounds coming from out there… oh Maker…"

Alarmed, Wynne spun around to face Theron. "We must hurry. They are in grave danger, I am sure of it."

The man scoffed. "You can't save them. You don't know what they've become."

Theron raised a brow skeptically, crossing his arms. "And you do?"

"They've been surrounded b-by blood mages whose wicked fingers snake into your mind and corrupt your thoughts," came his reply before he begged for us to end it all.

Theron sighed and shook his head, seemingly losing his patience as he had to state several times that he would not risk killing innocents.

"I knew you would make a rational decision," Wynne praised him with an approving nod.

"Rational?" The templar questioned incredulously. "How is this rational? Do you understand the danger?"

Theron rolled his eyes. "There we go again," he sighed. "Look, I do not want the blood of innocents on my hands."

"I am just willing to see the painful truth, which you are content to ignore. But what can I do?"

"What he says makes sense," Sten added. "Do not discard it out of hand… these mages are out of control."

"It isn't that simple, Sten," I objected and he regarded me shortly. "Perhaps."

"As you can see, I am in no position to directly influence your actions, though I would love to deal with the mages myself."

"Good. Then you can't cause any trouble," Theron replied with a broad grin, before turning towards us and discussing a strategy. Wynne had advised me to stay behind and look after the templar, since I was unable to fight. I wasn't stubborn enough to refuse, as I was well aware I would only cause trouble for the group. Therefore, I wished them all the luck they needed, hoping they would return soon.

"Don't worry," Theron placed his hands on my shoulder, squeezing it gently, "we'll be back in no time."

I nodded, tears forming in my eyes as I clasped one of his hands in mine. "Please save my son if you find him up there."

He nodded, his expression grim as he turned to leave.


End file.
